An Index-Based Approach to Assess Social Vulnerability for Hamburg, Germany

Abstract In this study, we set out to develop a new social vulnerability index (SVI). In doing so, we suggest some conceptual improvements that can be made to existing methodical approaches to assessing social vulnerability. To make the entanglement of socio-spatial inequalities visible, we are conducting a small-scale study on heterogeneous urban development in the city of Hamburg, Germany. This kind of high-resolution analysis was not previously available, but is increasingly requested by political decision makers. We can thus show hot spots of social vulnerability (SV) in Hamburg, considering the effects of social welfare, education, and age. In doing so, we defined SV as a contextual concept that follows the recent shift in discourse in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) concepts of risk and vulnerability. Our SVI consists of two subcomponents: sensitivity and coping capacity. Populated areas of Hamburg were identified using satellite information and merged with the social data units of the city. Areas with high SVI are distributed over the entire city, notably in the district of Harburg and the Reiherstieg quarter in Wilhelmsburg near the Elbe, as well as in the densely populated inner city areas of Eimsbüttel and St. Pauli. As a map at a detailed scale, our SVI can be a useful tool to identify areas where the population is most vulnerable to climate-related hazards. We conclude that an enhanced understanding of urban social vulnerability is a prerequisite for urban risk management and urban resilience planning.