The hidden role of the built environment in campus disaster preparedness
[...]
Preparedness is constrained—and sometimes enabled—by buildings , housing types, infrastructure, and space. In other words, preparedness is not just something people decide to do. It is something their environments allow them to do.
[...]
What surprised some readers of our findings was that perceived risk—how likely or severe people thought a hurricane might be—did not significantly influence preparedness intentions. From a built environment perspective, this makes sense. When buildings remain standing after repeated storms, they communicate resilience, even when that resilience is partial or misleading.
[...]
Universities often present themselves as neutral, standardized environments— but they are anything but . Our findings showed significant variation in preparedness confidence based on where employees worked and lived. These differences reflect unequal exposure, unequal housing conditions, and unequal access to resources embedded in the built environment.
[...]
Preparedness systems often assume a level of spatial flexibility that many employees simply do not have. Asking people to prepare without addressing these constraints shifts responsibility onto individuals while ignoring structural limitations. That is not resilience—it is displacement of accountability.
[...]
Instead of generic reminders, universities could provide physical resources—shared emergency supplies, accessible storage options, or clear evacuation infrastructure tailored to different employee groups.
[...]
If we want more resilient campuses, we need to stop asking only how people behave—and start asking how our buildings, infrastructure, and planning decisions make that behavior possible.
[...]