Towards a Unified DALY-Based Framework for Urban Multi-Hazard Health Risk Assessment

Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to interconnected geophysical, hydraulic, meteorological, climate, and biological hazards. This research builds on a harm assessment framework initially developed for indoor air contaminants and adapts it to assess systemic health impacts across urban hazards using Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) as a unified metric.

The adapted framework was applied to indoor heat exposure in Bolzano’s Casette Inglesi district (Italy), a vulnerable social housing area. Health burdens were quantified for residents, demonstrating the framework’s utility in comparing health risks across scenarios. Preliminary findings suggest significant disparities in health impacts, particularly for the elderly.

Drawing from systematic reviews of DALY applications to earthquakes and floods, this study underscores the feasibility of extending the framework to these hazards. Previous research highlights the use of DALYs in quantifying mortality and morbidity associated with structural failures, displacement, and post-event health impacts. Integrating insights from these studies will inform the framework’s adaptation for cascading and compound hazard scenarios, where multiple risks interact to exacerbate health outcomes.

Future work will refine the framework for broader multi-hazard applications. By leveraging DALYs to standardize health risk assessments, this research provides a novel approach for holistic urban risk management and decision-making in disaster risk reduction.