Typology of household adaptations to infrastructure system service interruptions

Abstract

When infrastructure system services are interrupted, households implement adaptations to address needs that were previously met by the infrastructure system. In this paper, we introduce the Household Adaptations to Service Interruption (HASI) typology, which offers a new way to systematically enumerate, organize, and describe adaptations. Development of the typology was guided by a desire to better understand the implementation and effects of adaptations—who undertakes them, when, under what circumstances, and with what consequences. These, in turn, depend on tradeoffs between the replacement service provided by an adaptation and the requirements to implement it. The HASI typology, thus, includes two parts: (1) the main groupings, which have a hierarchical structure, and (2) additionaladaptation characteristics that are related to the replacement service and requirements to implement. The features used to group adaptations include modifying supply vs. demand; substituting the infrastructure system service (electricity) vs. specific uses it typically provides (e.g., lighting or cooking); applicable infrastructure systems; uses served; levels of substitution provided for each use; financial cost; health and safety cost; time and effort cost; effort frequency; special resources required; and side effects. The typology advances understanding of adaptations by providing a consistent vocabulary to discuss them; helping to identify new forms of adaptations; facilitating understanding of important adaptation features; and suggesting future research questions.