138
H. Matsuura
8.1 Introduction
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 sets out seven targets
and four priorities for global action against disasters (UNDRR 2015). The word
‘resilience’ is included in one of the seven targets: ‘Substantially reduce disaster
damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health
and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030’.
The Sendai Framework is the successor of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–
2015, which sets the first global plan to help nations work towards disaster resilience
by strengthening community capabilities (UNDRR 2007). Learning from the Hyogo
Framework, the Sendai Framework emphasizes local level actions and the importance
of collaboration at global, national and local levels (UNDRR 2015).
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 was also the first
agreement of the post-2015 development agenda (UNDRR 2016). Implementing the
Sendai Framework is necessary for achievement of the Sustainable Development
Goals, which set the framework for global development policy over 15 years. In
turn, progress on the SDGs, especially Goal 11 to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’, can substantially develop community
resilience in the face of disasters. Building resilience for future disasters is critical
not only to help save lives and properties from potential disasters, but also to enhance
sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction not disrupted by disasters.
The concept of resilience has been widely accepted in literature covering disaster
management. There is also an increasing trend of developing a wide variety of quantitative metrics measuring for the level of resilience (Quinlan et al. 2016). Despite
the popularity of concept, however, no agreement exists over the exact measurement
of resilience against natural disasters. In 2014, the United Nations Development
Programme (2014) systematically surveyed the index of disaster resilience and classified the maturity of disaster resilience measurements into six phases. These range
from early models yet without a developed indicator framework (Phase 1) to models
that already have institutionalized disaster resilience measurements and are collecting
data frequently (Phase 5) (Winderl 2014). No single resilience index reached phase
6, where the relevance of measurement has empirically verified. With the other four
indicators (Hyogo Framework for Action Monitor, World Risk Index, Global Focus
Model and Socio-Economic Resilience Index), the Resilience Capacity Index (RCI)
was categorized as being at phase 5. Unlike the other four indicators that are calculated at national level, the Resilience Capacity Index is calculated at sub-national
level. The RCI was originally developed by Foster (2007) and is a compound of
12 variables aggregated into three categories: regional economic capacity, sociodemographic capacity and community connectivity capacity (Foster 2011). The RCI
was originally applied to rank the level of resilience in 361 metropolitan statistical
areas in the United States, but it has also been used for other countries sub-national
units such as 52 counties in the northern Gulf of Mexico region, 290 municipalities
in Sweden, 40 localities in Sri Lanka and 79 Slovak districts (Reggiani et al. 2016;
Reams et al. 2012; Östh et al. 2015; Abenayake et al. 2016; Psycharis et al. 2014).
H. Matsuura
8.1 Introduction
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 sets out seven targets
and four priorities for global action against disasters (UNDRR 2015). The word
‘resilience’ is included in one of the seven targets: ‘Substantially reduce disaster
damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health
and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030’.
The Sendai Framework is the successor of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–
2015, which sets the first global plan to help nations work towards disaster resilience
by strengthening community capabilities (UNDRR 2007). Learning from the Hyogo
Framework, the Sendai Framework emphasizes local level actions and the importance
of collaboration at global, national and local levels (UNDRR 2015).
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 was also the first
agreement of the post-2015 development agenda (UNDRR 2016). Implementing the
Sendai Framework is necessary for achievement of the Sustainable Development
Goals, which set the framework for global development policy over 15 years. In
turn, progress on the SDGs, especially Goal 11 to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’, can substantially develop community
resilience in the face of disasters. Building resilience for future disasters is critical
not only to help save lives and properties from potential disasters, but also to enhance
sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction not disrupted by disasters.
The concept of resilience has been widely accepted in literature covering disaster
management. There is also an increasing trend of developing a wide variety of quantitative metrics measuring for the level of resilience (Quinlan et al. 2016). Despite
the popularity of concept, however, no agreement exists over the exact measurement
of resilience against natural disasters. In 2014, the United Nations Development
Programme (2014) systematically surveyed the index of disaster resilience and classified the maturity of disaster resilience measurements into six phases. These range
from early models yet without a developed indicator framework (Phase 1) to models
that already have institutionalized disaster resilience measurements and are collecting
data frequently (Phase 5) (Winderl 2014). No single resilience index reached phase
6, where the relevance of measurement has empirically verified. With the other four
indicators (Hyogo Framework for Action Monitor, World Risk Index, Global Focus
Model and Socio-Economic Resilience Index), the Resilience Capacity Index (RCI)
was categorized as being at phase 5. Unlike the other four indicators that are calculated at national level, the Resilience Capacity Index is calculated at sub-national
level. The RCI was originally developed by Foster (2007) and is a compound of
12 variables aggregated into three categories: regional economic capacity, sociodemographic capacity and community connectivity capacity (Foster 2011). The RCI
was originally applied to rank the level of resilience in 361 metropolitan statistical
areas in the United States, but it has also been used for other countries sub-national
units such as 52 counties in the northern Gulf of Mexico region, 290 municipalities
in Sweden, 40 localities in Sri Lanka and 79 Slovak districts (Reggiani et al. 2016;
Reams et al. 2012; Östh et al. 2015; Abenayake et al. 2016; Psycharis et al. 2014).