Operationalization of a spatial interaction model to estimate the impact of community structure on resilience processes

Kyle D. Buck; Justin J. Bousquin; Kyle D. Buck; Justin J. Bousquin

doi:10.3934/urs.2025011

Urban Resilience and Sustainability

2025, Volume 3, Issue 4: 208-224. doi: 10.3934/urs.2025011

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Research article

Operationalization of a spatial interaction model to estimate the impact of community structure on resilience processes

Kyle D. Buck ^,,
Justin J. Bousquin

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Dr, Burlington, VT 05405, USA

Received: 24 March 2025 Revised: 30 October 2025 Accepted: 11 November 2025 Published: 21 November 2025

Growing hazard exposures and deepening social disparities highlight the need for resilience frameworks that capture not only risk and vulnerability but also the processes through which communities adapt. Most existing indices rely on static indicators that describe socioeconomic or infrastructural conditions without representing the spatial and networked interactions that sustain adaptation and recovery. This paper operationalizes resilience as a process of dynamic interaction among people, infrastructure, and environment by advancing the Community Hazardscape and Amenity Placement in Provisioning of Improved Endpoints (CHAPPIE) framework. Using a production-constrained gravity model, CHAPPIE estimates potential benefit flows between households and resources within network constraints, thereby quantifying accessibility, connectivity, and equity as determinants of adaptive capacity. The paper aligns conceptual resilience capacities—education and information, basic provisioning, health and safety, and community cohesion—with measurable indicators and network metrics. By embedding spatial interaction theory within the resilience assessment, the framework provides a path toward quantifying resilience as a socio-ecological process rather than a static condition, illustrating how accessibility and structure shape adaptation potential.
- resilience processes,
- gravity model,
- network accessibility,
- community structure,
- socio-ecological systems,
- equity
Citation: Kyle D. Buck, Justin J. Bousquin. Operationalization of a spatial interaction model to estimate the impact of community structure on resilience processes[J]. Urban Resilience and Sustainability, 2025, 3(4): 208-224. doi: 10.3934/urs.2025011

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Abstract

Growing hazard exposures and deepening social disparities highlight the need for resilience frameworks that capture not only risk and vulnerability but also the processes through which communities adapt. Most existing indices rely on static indicators that describe socioeconomic or infrastructural conditions without representing the spatial and networked interactions that sustain adaptation and recovery. This paper operationalizes resilience as a process of dynamic interaction among people, infrastructure, and environment by advancing the Community Hazardscape and Amenity Placement in Provisioning of Improved Endpoints (CHAPPIE) framework. Using a production-constrained gravity model, CHAPPIE estimates potential benefit flows between households and resources within network constraints, thereby quantifying accessibility, connectivity, and equity as determinants of adaptive capacity. The paper aligns conceptual resilience capacities—education and information, basic provisioning, health and safety, and community cohesion—with measurable indicators and network metrics. By embedding spatial interaction theory within the resilience assessment, the framework provides a path toward quantifying resilience as a socio-ecological process rather than a static condition, illustrating how accessibility and structure shape adaptation potential.

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