Why do Asian coastal cities experience different levels of social vulnerability under similar climate hazards?
Project Description
Asian coastal cities face escalating climate hazards—sea-level rise, extreme flooding, and heatwaves. Yet, hazards of similar intensity often produce vastly different social and economic impacts across cities. This project investigates why this occurs, testing the hypothesis that differential outcomes are driven not by the hazard itself, but by underlying structural vulnerabilities. The goal is to identify and rank the key vulnerability factors to inform targeted adaptation strategies.
Supervisor
SU, Hui
Quota
1
Course type
UROP1100
Applicant's Roles
The applicant will support all phases of the research, with duties including:
Conducting literature reviews to refine vulnerability indicators.
Acquiring, organizing, and quality-checking large-scale climate and geospatial datasets.
Performing spatial data processing and statistical analysis using GIS (QGIS) and R/Python.
Assisting in the development and testing of the cross-city comparative model.
Maintaining documentation and contributing to presentations and manuscript preparation.
Conducting literature reviews to refine vulnerability indicators.
Acquiring, organizing, and quality-checking large-scale climate and geospatial datasets.
Performing spatial data processing and statistical analysis using GIS (QGIS) and R/Python.
Assisting in the development and testing of the cross-city comparative model.
Maintaining documentation and contributing to presentations and manuscript preparation.
Applicant's Learning Objectives
Through this project, the applicant will:
Gain end-to-end research experience from question formulation to publication.
Develop technical skills in handling and analyzing large geospatial and climate datasets using GIS and programming tools.
Build deep knowledge of the IPCC climate vulnerability framework and its application to urban resilience.
Learn to design and implement comparative cross-sectional analyses across multiple cities.
Strengthen scientific communication, data management, and collaborative research skills, contributing to policy-relevant outcomes.
Gain end-to-end research experience from question formulation to publication.
Develop technical skills in handling and analyzing large geospatial and climate datasets using GIS and programming tools.
Build deep knowledge of the IPCC climate vulnerability framework and its application to urban resilience.
Learn to design and implement comparative cross-sectional analyses across multiple cities.
Strengthen scientific communication, data management, and collaborative research skills, contributing to policy-relevant outcomes.
Complexity of the project
Moderate