Investigating the Physical Resilience of Rural Households against Floods: A Case Study of Dargaz County

Flood hazards in Iran annually inflict significant damages on rural areas, particularly impacting the housing sector. Consequently, focusing on the physical resilience of rural housing is essential due to its heightened vulnerability to floods. This study aims to assess the level of physical resilience of rural dwellings in Dargaz county facing floods and examine the influential contextual factors. The research, characterized by an applied purpose and a descriptive-analytical nature, relies on field surveys. The structure of physical housing resilience is quantified across five components: spatial, legal, structural, functional, and perceptual resilience, utilizing 36 indicators within the Likert spectrum. Following preliminary exploratory studies, nine villages with the highest flood vulnerability in the city were identified as the research sample. At the time of the 1399 study, these villages housed 1514 residential units, with 225 units determined as the sample using the Cochran's formula. The research tool was completed with the assistance of household heads. The reliability of the questionnaire, assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient in the resilience structure, was 0.95, indicating a desirable level. Results indicated that the overall average of physical housing resilience (excluding the legal dimension) and the resilience structure was significantly lower than the theoretical average, falling within the low to moderate range. Furthermore, as residence duration and the age of homeowners in the village increased, the physical resilience of housing showed a weakening trend. Conversely, increased years of education and income were associated with a higher level of physical housing resilience, albeit with weak intensity.