Attributes of Resilience in Disaster Response and Preparedness: Public–Private Collaboration During the 2016 and 2018 Earthquakes in Taiwan

ABSTRACT Resilience has become a prominent concept in disaster management, yet empirical studies on its attributes remain scarce. This research has two main objectives: (1) to address this gap by examining the responses and related preparedness efforts of local governments to the earthquakes in Taiwan in 2016 and 2018, with a focus on collaboration between the public and private sectors, and (2) to further propose a conceptual diagram that illustrates the relationships among key attributes of resilience. Using interviews with key individuals and secondary data sources, the study identified five critical disaster response themes and 13 attributes of resilience. The conceptual diagram derived from the cases suggests that agility emerges as the overarching objective in the response phase and related preparedness phase; foresight capability and resourcefulness are key in the preparedness phase; creativity and connectivity are paramount in the response phase; and adaptive learning serves as a critical bridge between the two phases, fostering adaptation and evolution. Most attributes are anchored in the preparedness phase, reaffirming the principle that proactive measures are more effective than reactive ones. Furthermore, resourcefulness and inclusivity are crucial prerequisites for sustainability, and modularity is shown to be effectively applicable to organizational systems. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the functional and operational aspects of resilience in seismic disaster contexts, emphasizing the need for balanced integration of all attributes for stronger disaster governance.