Review article: The spatial dimension in the assessment of urban socio-economic vulnerability related to geohazards.

Abstract

Society and economy are only two of the dimensions of vulnerability. This paper aims to elucidate the state of the art of data sources, spatial variables, indicators, methods, indexes and tools for the spatial assessment of socioeconomic vulnerability (SEV) related to geohazards. This review was first conducted in December 2018 and re-run in March 2020 for the period between 2010 and 2020. The gross number of articles reviewed was 27, from which we identified18relevantreferencesusingarevisedsearchquery and six relevant references identified using the initial query, giving a total sample of 24 references. The most common source of data remains population censuses. The most recurrent spatial variable used for the assessment of SEV is householdswithoutbasicservices,whilecriticalfacilitiesare the most frequent spatial category. Traditional methods have been combined with more innovative and complex methods to select and weight spatial indicators and develop indices. The Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI®) remains the benchmark for the assessment of SEV and a reference for its spatialassessment.Geographicinformationsystems(GIS)isthe most common tool for conducting a spatial assessment of SEV regarding geohazards. For future spatial assessments of SEV regarding geohazards, we recommend considering 3-D spatial indexes at the microscale at the urban level and involving the community in the assessments.