User’s Factors: Vulnerability and Exposure

Users’ factors highly impact the effective risk due to Slow Onset Disasters (SLODs) affecting public open spaces, such as squares and streets. Individual features that influence users’ responses to environmental stressors, because of age, health, gender, habits and behaviour, impact the users’ vulnerability. Exposure can then amplify these issues, since it defines the number of users that can be effectively affected by the SLOD. Due to the dynamics in public open space use and SLODs characterization, spatiotemporal approaches are then needed to connect these two basic users’ factors. Starting from this perspective, this chapter first traces literature-based correlations between individual features, use behaviour, and individual response to the SLOD-altered open spaces. Then, a novel methodology, to quantify the variations of users’ vulnerability and exposure, is offered, to support designers in quickly defining input scenarios for risk assessment and mitigation.