Social resilience to urban floods: Reflections from existing knowledge and practice

Abstract

Urban flooding, exacerbated by climate change, has become one of the most frequent and destructive urban climate-related disasters, posing severe threats to human life and property. While resilience theory has advanced in recent years, social resilience remains underexplored, particularly in the context of urban flood disasters. This study conducts a systematic literature review using the PRISMA framework to examine how social resilience is conceptualized, measured, and integrated into flood risk reduction. The findings reveal three major insights: (1) Existing research follows two main trends—framework development and factor analysis; (2) Social resilience is defined through both social entities and mechanisms, and it is conceptually distinct from community resilience; (3) Urban flood scenarios require specific assessment indicators, differing from those used in general disaster contexts. Based on these findings, we propose redefining social resilience from a flood-specific perspective; developing an independent assessment framework tailored to urban floods; and integrating flood-specific social indicators into urban risk governance. This study contributes to refining social resilience theory and offers a transferable framework that can also inform the management of other climate-induced disasters. By enhancing understanding and operationalization of social resilience, the research supports more effective and equitable disaster response in urban settings.