https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4923-7370
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ABSTRACT
Vulnerability in urban areas has been on the rise following the global political and economic restructuring processes that have taken place since the 1980s. This increase in vulnerability has sparked a growing awareness of the need to understand the impact of these processes on the most vulnerable neighborhoods and areas of cities so as to develop effective policy responses. Although this vulnerability has become more evident in larger cities, this casuistry can also be seen in medium-sized cities. This paper examines the level of vulnerability of different neighborhoods in the medium-sized European city of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain), using a methodological approach which combines the analytic hierarchy process and geographic information systems, based on a number of indicators for different economic, demographic and migratory status-related dimensions. The results reveal a synthetic map of the vulnerability of neighborhoods in Vitoria-Gasteiz that shows an uneven impact of structural processes and policy initiatives implemented over decades. The paper concludes that synthetic maps of vulnerability make it possible to show the different realities in the urban framework and can contribute to defining public interventions tailored to these specific problems.
Acknowledgments
We are most grateful to the editor, Dr. Bernadette Hanlon, and the two anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions made on earlier draft of this paper. Their feedback caused us to rethink a number of issues and fundamentally shaped the content herein.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Notes on contributors
Carmen Echebarria
Carmen Echebarria is a professor of economics at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. She was director of the Research Group on Governance and Marketing for Sustainability of the University of the Basque Country from 2001 to 2018. Her research focuses on cities, sustainability, and networking. She has coauthored over 50 articles in journals such as, Regional Studies, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Public Management Review, Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Papers in Regional Science, Global Environmental Change, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and Journal of Cleaner Production, among others.
Itziar Aguado-Moralejo
Itziar Aguado-Moralejo is an associate professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. Her research focuses on cities and sustainability. Her research has been published in various journals such as, European Urban and Regional Studies, Environment and Planning A, Geoforum, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, among others.
Jose M. Barrutia
Jose M. Barrutia is a professor of marketing at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. He has been a consultant manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers, director of Marketing for a Regional Bank, and director of economics and planning of the Basque government. He is director of the Research Group on Governance and Marketing for Sustainability of the University of the Basque Country since 2019. His research focuses on services, sustainability, co-creation, smart cities, and networking. He has coauthored over 60 articles in journals such as Journal of Service Research, Journal of Service Management, Public Management Review, Public Money & Management, Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Global Environmental Change, Energy Policy, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change, among others.