Constructing a social vulnerability index for flooding: insights from a municipality in Sweden

Floods disproportionately affect disadvantaged groups. Social vulnerability assessments are the first step in designing just and equitable flood risk reduction strategies. In Sweden, earlier social vulnerability indices apply top-down approaches.

In this paper, the authors develop and apply a combined bottom-up and top-down approach to assess social vulnerability to flooding at a sub-municipal level in Sweden. They tested an indicator-based climate risk and vulnerability framework, more specifically the impact chain method suggested by the Vulnerability Sourcebook. They involved stakeholders using various participatory methods in three workshops, interviews, and informal exchanges to identify variables and indicators for social vulnerability. The Indicators were aggregated into a composite social vulnerability index using exploratory factor analysis. They thereafter mapped the social vulnerability index scores to uncover spatial injustices.

The authors found that the proposed social vulnerability index captures municipal nuances better than national-level approaches. Their findings indicate an uneven spatial distribution of social vulnerability that mimics the overall patterns of income segregation found in the municipality. Many areas that score low in social vulnerability endure high exposure to floods. The social vulnerability index can support municipalities in designing just and equitable interventions toward flood risk reduction by serving as an input to policymaking, investment strategies, and civil protection.