Social vulnerability indicators in disasters: Findings from a systematic review

Abstract

Social factors are one of the most important causes of vulnerability of exposed communities to disasters. Until now, however, most studies have been done in the developed countries. Thus, the aim of this paper is to review the social vulnerability indices and their validity in disasters within the period 1985–2015 and to develop a suitable classification to make sense of social vulnerability indices in the Iranian context. This study took place in 2015. It used bibliographies, citation databases, and other available records to find an answer to the question of what are the valid social vulnerability indicators in disasters. It examined 43 peer-reviewed English and Persian language journals. Initially, it found 32 indicators and 150 variables, but it was possible to subsume them into a few valid social vulnerability indicators. These were gender, public health condition, public infrastructures and migration. They are the five top categories of social vulnerability that are most useful in the Iranian context. Most studies have been limited to measure social vulnerability index in natural disasters settings. Consequently, additional research is needed to develop the indices of social vulnerability in man-made disasters and to develop appropriate variable weighting schemes and valid indices.