A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Relationships between Transportation Infrastructure and Human Resilience

In an age of constant disruptions from various sources, including chronic stresses (e.g., climate change, population growth) and acute shocks (e.g., earthquakes, floods), human resilience capacities to cope with and adapt to changes are becoming more and more important. The resilience capacities of humans are greatly affected and shaped by the environments in which individuals grow, live, and work. Transportation infrastructure, together with other utilities and buildings, create the physical living environment and contribute to the development of human resilience to disruptions. Despite many existing researches on human resilience and transportation infrastructure planning respectively, a holistic understanding of the relationships between transportation infrastructures and human resilience is still missing. Therefore, the objective of this study is to build a conceptual framework for the influencing mechanisms of transportation infrastructure on human resilience. The conceptual framework was developed using concept mapping based on qualitative data collected from existing literature. The proposed conceptual framework provides a theoretical foundation for investigating and quantifying the impacts of transportation infrastructure on human resilience. It could help decision makers and practitioners to better plan and design transportation infrastructure towards resilience individuals and communities.