From Vulnerability Reduction to Community Resilience: A Mediation-Based Structural Model of Coping Capacities in Disaster-Prone Communities of the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Communities that are prone to disasters are demanding more and more of the mechanism-based approaches to enhance resilience. Whereas vulnerability minimization and coping abilities are generally established determinants of resilience, there is a paucity of empirical studies on how structural enhancement is converted into adaptive results. This research formulates and verifies a structural model of mediation between vulnerability reduction, coping capacities, and resilience of the community in crisis-prone communities of the United Arab Emirates. Applying a quantitative cross-sectional survey and partial least squares structural equation modeling, the findings have shown that the vulnerability reduction is a significant determinant of resilience both directly and indirectly by increasing the coping capacities. The mediation analysis establishes the partial transmission of the vulnerability reduction impact on the resilience through the coping capacities. The model has significant predictive relevance and explanatory power. The results indicate that resilience does not only arise out of improvements in the institution but due to the process of mobilization of systems of adaptation within the communities, which provides useful insights into the integrated disaster risk reduction measures in the rapidly urbanizing contexts