ABSTRACT
Generally speaking, vulnerability to environmental hazards means the potential for loss. Since losses vary geographically, over time, and among different social groups, vulnerability also varies over time and space. Within the hazards literature, vulnerability has many different connotations, depending on the research orientation and perspective (see Chapter 6; also Dow, 1992; Cutter, 2001a). There are three main tenets in vulnerability research: the identification of conditions that make people or places vulnerable to extreme natural events, an exposure model (Burton et al, 1993; Anderson, 2000); the assumption that vulnerability is a social condition, a measure of societal resistance or resilience to hazards (Blaikie et al, 1994; Hewitt, 1997); and the integration of potential exposures and societal resilience with a specific focus on particular places or regions (see Chapter 7; also Kasperson et al, 1995).
