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Assessing Social Vulnerability of Households and Communities in Flood Prone Urban Areas

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Urban Vulnerability and Climate Change in Africa

Part of the book series: Future City ((FUCI,volume 4))

Abstract

This chapter deals with the assessment of social vulnerability in flood prone areas in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which recently experienced intensified flood events. While recognising that no single concept of vulnerability is widely accepted, the CLUVA project has developed an overall understanding that social vulnerability refers to the ability of an actor/group or system to anticipate, cope with and recover from the impact of a hazard. Our research focuses on households and communities and their adaptive capacities towards flooding events. The levels of responses have a direct effect on their livelihood. Our main concern is to investigate the conditions of households and communities when facing a particular climatic event. For our empirical analysis we developed a conceptual frame consisting of a vulnerability ladder including four main dimensions: asset, institutional, attitudinal and physical. These distinct dimensions offer a base for identifying and developing an indicator set through a participatory approach with different stakeholders. This chapter presents the example of Bonde La Mpunga in Dar es Salaam and demonstrates the different kinds of coping and adaptation measures being adopted with respect to local flooding issues.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term susceptibility used by the disaster risk community holds similar meaning as the concept of sensitivity which is predominantly used among climate change scholars. It refers essentially to the predisposition of a system (people, infrastructure and environment) to be affected or to suffer harm from a disastrous event (Cardona et al. 2012).

  2. 2.

    Ten cell units consist of ten adjacent plots in the settlement.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Sigrun Kabisch & Nathalie Jean-Baptiste

  2. School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ardhi University, 35176, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Regina John

  3. Institute of Human Settlements Studies, Ardhi University, 35176, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Wilbard J. Kombe

Authors
  1. Sigrun Kabisch
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  2. Nathalie Jean-Baptiste
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  3. Regina John
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  4. Wilbard J. Kombe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sigrun Kabisch .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University Munich (TUM), Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Freising, Germany

    Stephan Pauleit

  2. Department of Geography, University of Gaston Berger, Saint Louis, Senegal

    Adrien Coly

  3. Technical University Munich (TUM), Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Freising, Germany

    Sandra Fohlmeister

  4. University of Naples Federico II AMRA S.c.a r.l, Naples, Italy

    Paolo Gasparini

  5. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Gertrud Jørgensen

  6. Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Sigrun Kabisch

  7. Institute of Human Settlements Studies, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Wilbard J. Kombe

  8. School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Sarah Lindley

  9. School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Kwazulu Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Ingo Simonis

  10. Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Kumelachew Yeshitela

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Kabisch, S., Jean-Baptiste, N., John, R., Kombe, W.J. (2015). Assessing Social Vulnerability of Households and Communities in Flood Prone Urban Areas. In: Pauleit, S., et al. Urban Vulnerability and Climate Change in Africa. Future City, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03982-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03982-4_6

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