2011/02/16 by Gordon Walker, Kate Burningham · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Disaster Management and Resilience #Environmental Justice and Health Disparities #Flood Risk Assessment and Management
paper · doi:10.1177/0261018310396149
openalex publication_date 2011/02/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Flooding has only relatively recently been considered as an environmental justice issue. In this paper we focus on flooding as a distinct form of environmental risk and examine some of the key evidence and analysis that is needed to underpin an environmental justice framing of flood risk and flood impacts. We review and examine the UK situation and the body of existing research literature on flooding to fill out our understanding of the patterns of social inequality that exist in relation to both flood risk exposure and vulnerability to the diverse impacts of flooding. We then consider the various ways in which judgements might be made about the injustice or justice of these inequalities and the ways in which they are being sustained or responded to by current flood policy and practice. We conclude that there is both evidence of significant inequalities and grounds on which claims of injustice might be made, but that further work is needed to investigate each of these. The case for pursuing the framing of flooding as an environmental justice issue is also made.