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Determinants of residential vulnerability to flood hazards in Metro Vancouver, Canada

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  • Greg Oulahen
  • Dan Shrubsole
  • Gordon McBean

Abstract

What influences residents’ vulnerability to flood hazards in a Canadian coastal city? This study addresses the question by identifying and testing hypothetical determinants of residential vulnerability to flood hazards in Metro Vancouver. A household survey is conducted in four neighbourhoods in Vancouver and Surrey to test seven determinants: (1) social vulnerability, (2) hazard perception, (3) institutional arrangements, (4) amenity value conflicts, (5) self-protection, (6) attribution of responsibility, and (7) attenuation of risk due to another dominating concern. Survey findings offer insights into how these determinants interact to produce unequal vulnerability to flood hazards among residents in a Canadian city. The study finds that social vulnerability is an important factor in determining overall vulnerability to flood hazards. Household income, as a key contributor to social vulnerability, is found to have significant correlations with variables that define the other determinants. Institutional arrangements, including property insurance and development regulations, appear to interact with social vulnerability and the other determinants to allow powerful groups of people to live in hazardous places without taking on the full associated risk. The findings of the study have implications for our understanding of how vulnerability is produced and how, or whether, local policy can address these factors to equitably reduce risk. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Greg Oulahen & Dan Shrubsole & Gordon McBean, 2015. "Determinants of residential vulnerability to flood hazards in Metro Vancouver, Canada," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 78(2), pages 939-956, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:78:y:2015:i:2:p:939-956
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-1751-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Greg Oulahen & Linda Mortsch & Kathy Tang & Deborah Harford, 2015. "Unequal Vulnerability to Flood Hazards: “Ground Truthing” a Social Vulnerability Index of Five Municipalities in Metro Vancouver, Canada," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 105(3), pages 473-495, May.
    2. Torsten Grothmann & Fritz Reusswig, 2006. "People at Risk of Flooding: Why Some Residents Take Precautionary Action While Others Do Not," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 38(1), pages 101-120, May.
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    2. James B. Davies, 2020. "Reforming Canada's Disaster Assistance Programs," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 46(2), pages 187-197, June.
    3. Amanda de O. Regueira & Henderson Silva Wanderley, 2022. "Changes in rainfall rates and increased number of extreme rainfall events in Rio de Janeiro city," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(3), pages 3833-3847, December.
    4. Chloe H. Lucas & Kate I. Booth & Carolina Garcia, 2021. "Insuring homes against extreme weather events: a systematic review of the research," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Chloe H. Lucas & Kate I. Booth, 2020. "Privatizing climate adaptation: How insurance weakens solidaristic and collective disaster recovery," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.
    6. Sufia Rehman & Mehebub Sahana & Haoyuan Hong & Haroon Sajjad & Baharin Bin Ahmed, 2019. "A systematic review on approaches and methods used for flood vulnerability assessment: framework for future research," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 96(2), pages 975-998, March.

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