MYP Individuals & Societies Risk and Resilience Notes

How Can Risk Be Separated Into Hazards, Exposure, and Vulnerability?

1. A hazard is a potentially damaging event or process, for example a flood, heatwave, earthquake, pandemic, or an economic recession.
2. Hazards can be sudden (earthquake) or slow-moving (sea-level rise, long-term drought, rising housing costs).
3. Exposure refers to what is in harm's way: people, homes, transport links, hospitals, businesses, and key infrastructure.
4. Exposure increases when cities expand into floodplains, steep slopes, or coastal zones, or when essential services are clustered in one location.
5. Vulnerability describes how severely exposed people or systems would be affected.

Why Is Resilience More Than Just "Bouncing Back"?

1. Resilience is often explained as the ability to "bounce back," but human and urban resilience also includes longer-term change.
2. A resilient city or community can: