Neighborhood vulnerability in critical infrastructure and services

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic recession are the most recent major shocks to reveal deep inequalities present in cities and towns around the world, including in New York City. In this context, we seek to understand vulnerability across the city through a neighborhood lens, by viewing neighborhood vulnerability through four main lenses, or “domains”. The first of these, Critical Infrastructure and Services (CIS), is the focus of this chapter. By creating a single index value based on a weighted average of vulnerability across twelve variables, we can identify which neighborhoods are most vulnerable through the lens of the CIS domain. This chapter also evaluates the relationship between CIS and the other three domains, as well as the relationship between CIS and other demographic, environmental, and investment variables. Through extensive correlation analysis, we uncover several interesting relationships that merit further in-depth research. There is a strong correlation between neighborhood population density and CIS vulnerability, although deviations from the line of best fit are worth exploring as candidates for additional density. Lower CIS vulnerability at a neighborhood level is associated with higher rates of air pollution, a higher share of the population age 25-39, and a higher share of the population born in a US state other than New York. Through these and other findings, this chapter and the broader neighborhood vulnerability research effort will serve to shape decision-making across economic development organizations.