PEOPLES: A Framework for Evaluating Resilience

Abstract

In recent years, the concept of resilience has been introduced to the engineering field in particular related to disaster mitigation and management. However, the built environment is only part of the elements that support community functions. Maintaining community functionality during and after a disaster, defined as resilience, is influenced by multiple components. The paper is proposing a framework for measuring community resilience at different spatial and temporal scales. Seven dimensions are identified for measuring community resilience: population and demographics, environmental and ecosystem, organized governmental services, physical infrastructures, lifestyle and community competence, economic development, and social-cultural capital. They are summarized with the acronym PEOPLES. Each dimension is characterized by a corresponding performance metric that is combined with the other dimensions using a multilayered approach. Therefore, once a hybrid model of the community is defined, the proposed framework can be applied to measure its performance against any type of extreme event during emergency and in long term postdisaster phases. A resilience index can be determined to reflect all, or part, of the dimensions influencing the events. Several applications of part of such framework can already be found in literature for different types of infrastructures, physical and organizational (e.g., gas network, water distribution networks, health care facilities). The proposed framework can be used as decision support by stakeholders and managers and it can help planners in selecting the optimal restoration strategies that enhance the community resilience index.