Measuring Criticality in Urban Systems: A Quantitative Approach for Assessing Urban Vulnerability to Natural Hazards

Abstract

This paper introduces criticality analysis as a tool to identify and rank the most critical elements of a city system when impacted by natural hazards. This research discusses the limitations of current vulnerability assessment tools in providing details on how and where to distribute hazard mitigation resources. It proposes criticality analysis as a quantitative approach that goes beyond vulnerability assessment. The analysis of this paper provides a detailed description of the criticality analysis procedure and highlights the multifarious considerations that determine how criticality is defined. This research explains the steps involved in conducting criticality analysis. The analysis involves developing research questions and defining the unit of analysis, identifying vulnerable entities and hazard sources, establishing analytical scenarios, and selecting models to measure criticality. The objective is to detect critical components under disaster scenarios and quantify their significance to the entire system. Researchers need to identify the unit of analysis by using quantitative indicators, and the measurement scale must also be identified. At least one disaster scenario needs to be constructed, and the disaster scenarios typically couple with those of the units of analysis.