Evaluation of infrastructure resilience

Xu, W; Cong, J and Proverbs, D G (2023) Evaluation of infrastructure resilience. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 41(2), pp. 378-400. ISSN 23984708

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to undertake an evaluation of the resilient capacity of the infrastructure systems in the city of Wuhan. This evaluation focuses on the ability of the infrastructure to cope with extreme weather from multiple dimensions and to propose effective interventions against such risks. Design/methodology/approach: This research draws on a review and synthesis of the theory of resilience and adopts the literature induction method to build an evaluation index for five urban systems, namely: roads; water supply and drainage; energy and power; urban disaster reduction; and communications. Index data from the period of 1990–2019 are combined with the views of experts from Wuhan and analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) to calculate the weightings of the five urban systems. A fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is then used to investigate the resilient capacity of these five urban infrastructure systems in the city. Findings: Generally, the results show that the resilience of the infrastructure systems in Wuhan are at a high level. Based on the results, the communications and roads systems are found to have higher levels of resilience, while the disaster mitigation system is found to have a relatively low level of resilience. Recommendations are suggested to help improve resilience and prioritize investments in the development of the city's infrastructure systems. Research limitations/implications: The development of these specific indicators and quantitative requirements have not been studied in detail, so a more comprehensive, systematic evaluation of quantitative indicators and methods of urban infrastructure resilience is still required. In addition, the research on the resilience of urban infrastructure under extreme weather is still in its infancy, and it is essential to further increase the quantitative assessment of the resilience of urban infrastructure under construction. This will also be indispensable information in the subsequent implementation of a resilient planning process. Originality/value: This research builds a rigorous and reliable evaluation model that avoids any subjective bias in the results and represents a new approach to evaluate the resilience of the infrastructure systems in the city of Wuhan, which could be applied to other cities.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: infrastructure resilience; resilient capacity; risk; urban infrastructure
Index terms: bias, methodology, weather, drainage, infrastructure resilience, water supply, urban infrastructure, disaster mitigation, principal component analysis, dimension, implementation, low level, planning process, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation
Subjects: risk management, air quality, contractual arrangements, health monitoring assessment and metrics, probability and distributions, research methods, infrastructure and transport systems, decision-making and optimization, statistical analysis, environmental hazards, project controls, measurement and scaling
Topics: Urban Studies, Time Control, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Procurement, Sustainability
Descriptive scope: 4 PCTA

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here