Digital Riskscapes. Susan Cutter, Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208
Scale is a critical concern when assessing risks and hazards, yet it often poses major methodological problems for the social sciences. Data portrayal as points, lines, or areas also confounds risks and hazards assessment. With the use of advanced geographic information systems (GIS) technology these twin problems of scale and data compatibility become more manageable. This paper examines social and place vulnerability to toxic substances, and identifies the regional and social inequities in risk burdens using this analytical tool. For this paper, a riskscape is a map of multiple hazards at multiple scales within one state. Using hazardous waste and toxic facilities and emissions data, and US Census information on the social characteristics of places, a digital model of South Carolina's riskscape is presented. Risk burdens on specific places (in buffers around facilities, US Census blocks and tracts, and counties) are identified. Pairing the social vulnerability to the risk burdens demonstrates the disproportionate burdens home by certain regions and populations within the state. The ability to integrate disparate data sets and scales using a GIS, provides important new capabilities for policy makers grappling with environmental equity considerations.