Disaster Risk Index: A Review of Local Scale Concept and Methodologies

Abstract

Disaster Risk Index (DRI) is a tool for risk identification, risk management and risk exposure which measured at a different level of scales such as global, regional, trans-boundary or local. This paper reviews DRI and its developments at a local scale of nine countries. There are differences in the risk index components used. Some countries from the previous study such as China, Indonesia, Philippines, USA, and Brazil applied World Risk Index (WRI) concept while others use a combination of other risk components to define risk. The paper also reviews the methodologies used in terms of indicators’ weight and the purpose of DRI development. The vulnerability component, which divided into six dimensions for assessment (social, environmental, economic, institutional, physical and economic) mostly focused on the social and physical dimensions. There is a limitation for the WRI concept at the local level in terms of data availability. The indicator used does not represent the local attribute of the countries or the community. Greater focus placed on an integrated approach for the development of DRI at the local level by considering the element of climate risk as an indicator. The development of DRI should consider an integrated approach that is focused on a certain dimension for future research for contribution to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).