This paper examines the impacts of the February, 2001, Nisqually earthquake on businesses. Focusing on two hard-hit business districts in Seattle, the study investigates the extent of losses, patterns of disparities, and underlying loss factors. A conceptual framework is proposed of how business vulnerability dimensions contribute to disaster loss. Interviews were conducted with owners and managers of 107 businesses. Data were gathered on impacts, methods of finance, and disaster preparedness. Results showed that business losses were much greater than what standard statistical data would imply. Analysis found that a composite index of vulnerability-based on business sector, size, and building occupancy tenure-provides a very powerful predictor of business loss. Physical damage was a much weaker predictor of loss. Moreover, business recovery was influenced not only by characteristics of the business itself, but also by conditions in the neighborhood.
This paper develops a multiobjective muthematical location model to identqy possible locations for environmentally hazardous facilities. Risk and equity are recognized as the most important criteria in determining site selection. In contrast to earlier models, the equity objective explicitly considers the existing distribution of environmental burdens when siting new hazardous facilities. Proposed environmentally hazardous facilities are located so that the burdens associated with new and existing hazards are shared as equally as possible among all areas. The application of the model, in a case study of the Greenpoint/Williamburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, illustrates the trade-offs associated with various risk and equity scenarios. Sensitivity analyses demonstrate how the existing distribution of environmental burdens m y act as a constraint and limit the degree of equity that may be obtained when locating new facilities.During the past decade, conflicts involving the location of noxious facilities have proliferated due to the increased recognition that they have the potential to cause injury or harm to the population in proximate areas (Erkut and Neuman 1989). Various location models have been developed to address the problem of locating such facilities. These models generally incorporate both risk and equity objectives (Ratick and White 1988;List and Mirchandani 1991;Wyman and Kuby 1996). Risk objectives seek a locational pattern that will minimize the population that is exposed to hazards in question, while equity criteria are concerned with obtaining a spatial distribution that will share these hazards equally among all populations. Multiobjective modeling techniques offer compromise solutions to these often conflicting goals.Previous research has enhanced our understanding of the complexity associated with undesirable facility location problems. However, it has focused exclusively on The authors thank the man peo le who offered he1 ful comments on this and revious drafts of the pa r, especially, Mike Kub 6avid%odge, Sara Mc&e Dick MomU, Nick drisman, Sam Ratick, a$Erika Falit-Baiamonte. ?he three anonymous referees 2 0 provided very constructive criticisms.Anthony Falit-Baiamonte is a doctoral candidate in the . ] g r e y P. Osleeb is professor of geography at Hunter College-CM.
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