Disaster community resilience assessment method: a consensus-based Delphi and AHP approach

Abstract

Several studies have highlighted the importance of community resilience in disaster management. The paper focuses on Saudi Arabia and proposes a ‘community resilience to disaster’ framework. The dimensions of the framework have been developed using the consensus-based Delphi technique. A weighting system for each dimension and criteria is proposed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Experts’ opinions were collected using pair-wise comparisons and then coded in AHP Expert Choice software to evaluate and give priorities to the possible outcomes of the process. The weighting system provides a quantitative and qualitative assessment tool to measure community resilience to disasters in Saudi Arabia and beyond. The findings emphasise the importance of a number of dimensions, including health and well-being (24.5 % of the total weight), governance (18 %), physical and environmental (17.4 %), economic (15.9 %), information and communication (14.3 %) and social (9.9 %).