Disaster Resiliency ─ Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Natural disasters in recent years have brought the study of disaster resiliency to the forefront. The importance of community preparedness and sustainability has been underscored by such calamities as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Japanese tsunami in 2011. Natural disasters will inevitably continue to occur, but by understanding the concept of resiliency as well as the factors that lead to it, communities can minimize their vulnerabilities and increase their resilience.

In this volume, editors Naim Kapucu, Christopher V. Hawkins, and Fernando I. Rivera gather an impressive array of scholars to provide a much needed re-think to the topic disaster resiliency. Previous research on the subject has mainly focused on case studies, but this book offers a more systematic and empirical assessment of resiliency, while at the same time delving into new areas of exploration, including vulnerabilities of mobile home parks, the importance of asset mapping, and the differences between rural and urban locations. Employing a variety of statistical techniques and applying these to disasters in the United States and worldwide, this book examines resiliency through comparative methods which examine public management and policy, community planning and development, and, on the individual level, the ways in which culture, socio-economic status, and social networks contribute to resiliency. The analyses drawn will lead to the development of strategies for community preparation, response, and recovery to natural disasters.

Combining the concept of resiliency, the factors that most account for the resiliency of communities, and the various policies and government operations that can be developed to increase the sustainability of communities in face of disasters, the editors and contributors have assembled an essential resource to scholars in emergency planning, management, and policy, as well as upper-level students studying disaster management and policy.

Naim Kapucu is a Professor at the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He is the founding director of the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management (CPNM) at UCF (2008-2011). He has developed Emergency Management and Homeland Security graduate certificate and undergraduate minor programs at UCF. Dr. Kapucu has published widely in areas of public policy and administration, crisis leadership, nonprofit management, and disaster management.

Christopher Hawkins is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida. His research has focused on metropolitan governance, local economic development, smart growth, sustainability and application of network analysis to understanding planning and policy decisions

Fernando I. Rivera is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. His research interests and activities fall under staple areas of sociology, primarily the sociology of mental health, race and ethnicity, medical sociology and sociology of disasters.