Continued growth in the American Southwest depends on the reliable delivery of services by critical infrastructure systems, including water, power, and transportation. As these systems age, they are increasingly vulnerable to extreme heat events that both increase infrastructure demands and reveal complex interdependencies that amplify stressors. While the traditional analytic approach to preparing for such hazards is risk analysis, the experience of Hurricane Katrina provides a warning of the limitations of risk-based approaches for confronting complexity, and the potential scale and impact that can result from cascading failures under extreme stress. By contrast, this research is the first to apply resilience theory to understanding complex infrastructure interdependencies during an extreme heat event in Phoenix, AZ and the role of sensing, anticipating, adapting, and learning (SAAL) for mitigating catastrophe.

Communities in the United States are increasingly dependent upon aging infrastructure systems and challenged by more frequent and intense extreme weather events due in part to climate change. However, prioritizing resilience-related investments in these systems is hindered by the lack of performance metrics that objectively quantify the societal outcomes of infrastructure disruptions, such as power or water outages. This article outlines the process of developing an equity-focused resilience metric that captures the social consequences of infrastructure service disruptions on households. Theoretically grounded in the Capabilities Approach (CA) theory of human development, this metric focuses on estimating the burden of post-event adaptations taken by households to maintain their basic capabilities (e.g., ability to access food and water) and fulfill important household functionings (e.g., maintaining health and well-being). A travel cost method (TCM) that considers travel-related expenses, direct out-of-pocket expenses, and opportunity costs is presented as a way to measure the value of locations (e.g., grocery stores, emergency shelters, etc.) that provide services that enable households to maintain capabilities. A gravity-weighted model of accessibility is also discussed as a way to capture the value of having multiple potential service locations from which to choose and offers a way to capture important factors impacting a household’s ability to access important goods and services during outages. The proposed social burden metric equation incorporates the valuation principles of the TCM into the framework of the gravity model, resulting in a novel metric with strong methodological heritage. The article concludes by discussing the types of data needed to populate the proposed metric and future applications of this work that could inform the resilient infrastructure investments and planning necessary to mitigate the social burdens of power outages on vulnerable populations.

The environmental justice (EJ) movement has been a key factor in the United States’ struggle to provide a healthy environment for all to thrive. The origins of the movement date as far back as the 1960’s, led primarily by people of color and low economic status communities living in America’s most polluted environments. More recently, the just sustainability movement calls for the inclusion of EJ considerations, including social justice, equity, and human rights, into sustainability science and initiatives. Whereas previous work has elucidated synergies between both concepts, this paper provides a literature review of studies that apply the concepts of EJ and sustainability in the US to inform ways in which the concepts are merging (or not) for practical applications. The primary objectives of this review are (1) to identify the common themes in which EJ and sustainability are applied, (2) to qualitatively assess the progression of the integration of these important movements in practical applications, and (3) to inform research gaps that exist in this area. In general, we find that despite the increasing conceptual emphasis on the need to integrate these important concepts, the reviewed scholarship reveals that in practice, the integration of EJ and sustainability remains piecemeal.

Background Despite federal directives to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure systems, existing education programs have not kept pace with ambitious policy goals. As post-war infrastructure ages, it is increasingly necessary for graduates to master systems thinking to understand the complex and interdependent nature of infrastructure. Whereas in traditional physical science and engineering courses, learning would take place in laboratory exercises, the scale and criticality of infrastructure present obstacles to experimental and experiential learning activities. Aim This article describes the experience of an educational simulation game, called the LA Water Game, to teach management of ageing water infrastructure as a complex socio-technical system. Method A total of over 200 participants in 16 workshops completed an introductory lecture, experimental scenario development, experiential game play, and participated in reflective group discussion. Qualitative data was collected during game play and debriefing interviews and was used to assess participant learning outcomes. Results Participant feedback affirmed that simulation gaming can reinforce the experimental, experiential, and reflective phases of the Kolb Learning Cycle. Subjects displayed cognitive and affective engagement, intrinsic motivation, and often reported improved understanding of complex systems attributes, including interdependencies, feedback loops, nonlinearity, and stochasticity.