Building a community that is resilient to disasters has become one of the main goals of disaster management. Communities that are more disaster resilient often experience less impact from the disaster and reduced recovery periods afterwards. This study develops a methodology for constructing a set of indicators measuring Community Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) in terms of human, social, economic, environmental, and institutional factors. In this study, the degree of community resilience to natural disasters was measured for 229 local municipalities in Korea, followed by an examination of the relationship between the aggregated CDRI and disaster losses, using an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) method. Identifying the extent of community resilience to natural disasters would provide emergency managers and decision-makers with strategic directions for improving local communities' resilience to natural disasters while reducing the negative impacts of disasters.

The effects of climate change and air pollution on health have become major topics of discussion and conducting an assessment on the vulnerabilities of climate change is essential to providing a solution for it. This study assesses human vulnerability to the health effects of climate change and ozone. We classified 27 detailed vulnerability indicators into eight categories and assessed the vulnerability of 249 jurisdictions in South Korea by applying the Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Situation method. The results indicated that metropolitan and major urban areas were more vulnerable than other areas. Furthermore, factors such as air pollution, meteorological conditions, a vulnerable environment, the distribution of disease, health/medical capacities, and air pollution control had a significant impact on vulnerability. A validity analysis was on the vulnerability assessment results and the number of new patients diagnosed with diseases associated with the cardiovascular system; the results indicated a 66.9% correlation, signifying a considerably high validity. The proposed method for assessing vulnerabilities in terms of the health effects of air pollution is objective and based on data; thus, it is expected to present a high degree of applicability. The results can also be a critical foundation upon which to establish health policies.

Climate change is certain, given the sufficient evidence for it. Thus, it needs to be integrated into the process of spatial and community planning to empower communities so they can adapt to it. This study addresses the critical gap in the literature on community planning and climate change adaptations by creating planning methodologies based on the participatory method, and simulating application of the process to the Saebat Maeul community in Busan, Korea. In the Saebat Maeul community, the study area, people have struggled with urban flooding, which is related to the poor sewer system and heat waves. Green infrastructures were used as the main tools to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. The suggested community plan includes physical and socioeconomic measures, such as new parking structures with green roofs and pervious pavement, drainage facilities that reduce flooding, repairs to homes with cool roofs, and installation of rainwater harvesting facilities to lower the impact of heat waves. If planners have proper knowledge about climate change and if they guide the participatory planning process (thus reflecting local knowledge and suggestions), we concluded that it is possible to consider climate change adaptations within the context of spatial and community planning.