Assessment of urban vulnerability to drought in northern slope of TianShan Mountains

Abstract

With the great change of global climate and urbanization, urban drought is becoming a more and more urgent problem that affects human beings. This research investigates specifically urban vulnerability towards drought in the arid regions, and claims that Urban Vulnerability to Drought (UVD) refers to the sensitivity and resilience towards urban droughts. Our evaluation of urban drought vulnerability intends to establish certain metrics of a particular urban system. The evaluation shall provide insights towards better management and sustainable development of the city in the long run. From a systematic point of view, we built a set of regional comprehensive vulnerability assessment indicator system. We adopt the entropy method and collect factors contributing to drought for cities on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains in 2013. Data was from the city construction and social economic statistical yearbooks. Seven cities on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains were selected to calculate a drought vulnerability metrics. Detailed analysis of the factors reveals critical factors that contribute to arid city's drought vulnerability.