Abstract
Extensive damages of natural disasters have made resilience a focus of disaster management plans in order to limit damages. The aim of this study was a comparative evaluation of social and economic resilience in Bam and Rudbar. This applied research attempted to quantify and compare different dimensions of social and economic resilience in Bam and Rudbar with a descriptive-analytical method. Cochran’s formula determined the sample size as 330 households from both cities (a total of 660 households). The indicators of social and economic resilience were identified from the literature, and then data were collected through a field study using questionnaires. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression and feed-forward multilayer perceptron artificial neural network. Results denoted that several resilient-related socio-economic features were significantly different for Bam and Rudbar cities, such as the number of earthquakes experienced, length of stay in current neighbourhood and mean individual and household income. Mean social and economic resilience scores were significantly higher for Rudbar (216.3 ± 33.4 and 30.6 ± 7.3) compared to Bam (193 ± 26.5 and 29.4 ± 7.07) (p < 0.05). In addition, linear regression indicated that an increase in education level of the household head, length of stay in current neighbourhood and household income could result in an increase in social and economic resilience of the households under study. Neural network analysis revealed that social capital and employment recovery are the most and least effective factors, respectively, in both cities. In the population under study, social component, namely, social capital, was the most important determinant of resilience.
Highlights
Natural disasters have always been global issues, where unawareness and lack of preparedness can lead to property damage as well as social, economic, environmental and psychological damages (O’Brien, Sygna & Haugen 2004)
Until the 1980s, theoretical literature of crisis management was focused on approaches to reduce vulnerability to and develop coping strategies for disasters
Economic resilience depends on several economic characteristics, which can explain the differences regarding economic resilience
Summary
Until the 1980s, theoretical literature of crisis management was focused on approaches to reduce vulnerability to and develop coping strategies for disasters. By the end of 1980s and especially in the 1990s, social scientists started criticising this approach. They believed that vulnerability has a social dimension and should not be limited to human and property damage (Blaikie et al 2014). Researchers have struggled to change the dominant paradigm of the crisis management. Nowadays disaster management attitudes have experienced a substantial change all around the world such that the prevailing view now is aimed at increasing resilience to disasters rather than merely reducing vulnerability (Gilpin & Murphy 2008)
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