Graduation Semester and Year
Fall 2025
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Public Policy
Department
City and Regional Planning
First Advisor
Deden Rukmana
Second Advisor
Austin Allen
Third Advisor
Taner Ozdil
Abstract
Global warming and climate change have led to the increased and intensified presence of natural disasters. Cities grapple with the continual challenge of physical, structural, and organizational approaches to reducing disaster vulnerability while constantly working to prioritize the accessibility of safe spaces for the future. The aim of this dissertation [TH1] is to examine spatial data from Harris County, Texas, in conjunction [TH2] with key insights from key planning and government decision makers to determine how they can form collaborative and strategic alliances for the development of disaster vulnerability reduction strategies that increase access to safe spaces during imminent disasters[TH3] . As a transformative convergent parallel mixed methods design, this study employs the Spatial Justice Theory (SJT) to investigate the relationship between and significant differences in income, race, and access to safe space and as it relates to critical spatial disparities and dimensions of physical, structural, and organizational behaviours exhibited during Hurricane Harvey in Houston, TX[TH4] (Creswell et al., 2011; Soja, 2009, 2010)[TH5] . The study uses the geographical information systems (GIS) to illustrate the prevalence of disproportionate instances of access to safe spaces between the city’s wealthiest and poorest census tracts. The analysis triangulates quantitative and qualitative data by converging the spatial and quantitative results of Hurricane Harvey data extrapolated from X (formerly Twitter) with a qualitative thematic analysis of semi-structured [TH6] expert interviews from key planning and government decision makers. The results of the study illuminate Houston’s physical, structural and organizational approaches to disaster vulnerability during Hurricane Harvey. The[TH7] research findings establish an adaptable, measurable, and replicable method to create transformative intra jurisdictional vulnerability reduction analyses that expand Houston’s resilience plans and improve access to safe spaces for its citizenry.
[TH1]Updated as requested
[TH2]Updated as requested
[TH3]Updated as requested
[TH4]Updated as requested
[TH5]Citations added as requested
[TH6]Updated as requested
[TH7]Added more defined conclusions as requested
Keywords
disaster, disaster vulnerability, vulnerability reduction, disaster mitigation, hurricane, Hurricane Harvey, Houston, Texas, spatial, GIS
Disciplines
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Hardy, Tarsha, "AN ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, AND PHYSICAL APPROACHES TO DISASTER VULNERABILITY: A CASE OF HURRICANE HARVEY IN HOUSTON, TX" (2025). Planning Dissertations. 70.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/planning_dissertations/70