Natural disasters in recent years have brought the study of disaster resiliency to the forefront. The importance of community preparedness and sustainability has been underscored by such calamities as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Japanese tsunami in 2011. Natural disasters will inevitably continue to occur, but by understanding the concept of resiliency as well as the factors that lead to it, communities can minimize their vulnerabilities and increase their resilience.

In this volume, editors Naim Kapucu, Christopher V. Hawkins, and Fernando I. Rivera gather an impressive array of scholars to provide a much needed re-think to the topic disaster resiliency. Previous research on the subject has mainly focused on case studies, but this book offers a more systematic and empirical assessment of resiliency, while at the same time delving into new areas of exploration, including vulnerabilities of mobile home parks, the importance of asset mapping, and the differences between rural and urban locations. Employing a variety of statistical techniques and applying these to disasters in the United States and worldwide, this book examines resiliency through comparative methods which examine public management and policy, community planning and development, and, on the individual level, the ways in which culture, socio-economic status, and social networks contribute to resiliency. The analyses drawn will lead to the development of strategies for community preparation, response, and recovery to natural disasters.

Combining the concept of resiliency, the factors that most account for the resiliency of communities, and the various policies and government operations that can be developed to increase the sustainability of communities in face of disasters, the editors and contributors have assembled an essential resource to scholars in emergency planning, management, and policy, as well as upper-level students studying disaster management and policy.
Reviews

"Disaster Resiliency is a ortant collection of essays on what has become not only a theory of disasters but also an organizing principle around which research and practice are conducted. This book is essential reading for those new to the idea of resiliency, as well as experienced researchers for whom this compendium of essays, written by top scholars in the field, will be very useful."

—Thomas Birkland, North Carolina State University

"The concept of resilience has become increasingly important in motivating practice in applied settings. This book is an exceptional contribution to this development: it provides a great many insights into what resilience means to the management of risk and hazard vulnerability. It does so across an impressive range of topics from whole community and social capital perspectives to planning and inter-organizational coordination issues. I expect it to be a widely-used book for classroom instruction and for general readers interested in hazards and disasters—and most dese...