Vulnerability Analysis of Urban Residents in Response to COVID-19: An Educational Related Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic that began 2019, as a worldwide public health crisis, has deeply affected and changed the daily life of many people. Urban residents were vulnerable and fragile in this pandemic, because high population density areas are at higher risk of infection and fatality. Vulnerability analysis has focused on infectious disease exposure, public health facilities and resources, and regional vulnerability assessment. It is regarded as an important part of a comprehensive risk management, which can help communities and families be resilient from this kind of public health emergency. However, current vulnerability analysis research lacks personal adaptive behaviors, social medical security, and individual attitudes toward regular pandemic prevention and control policies based on the cognition and experience of urban residents. This study proposes a comprehensive vulnerability analysis framework to analyze the three factors of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity for residents with different educational levels. A questionnaire was designed based on the framework for a survey conducted in Yangling, Shaanxi, China. Results show that exposure and sensitivity exhibit a downward trend with the increase of educational level, while adaptive capacity is not greatly affected by education. This study also supports finding limitations in planning for urban risk management to reduce the vulnerability of urban residents and to improve urban resilience.