Revealing the causes of inequality in rainstorm flood disaster resilience between town and rural areas in southwestern China: Based on natural and social system dimensions

Amid global climate change and urbanization, the southwestern region of China is experiencing frequent heavy rainfall events. The complex natural environment, coupled with inequality in social development, has exacerbated the disparity in disaster recovery between town and rural areas. This study focuses on 24 towns and 115 rural areas in Yiliang County, Yunnan Province, and examines the rainstorm disaster cycle. A quantification framework for Rainstorm Flooding Disaster Resilience (RFDR) is developed for different town and rural units, along with a comprehensive evaluation system that integrates both natural and social dimensions. The CRITIC weighting method and weighted average approach are used to reveal RFDR inequality between town and rural areas, and spatial differentiation maps are generated using ArcGIS. The study found that: (1) Adverse natural conditions, particularly river density, terrain slope, and elevation differences, significantly influence the RFDR in the region; (2) Disparities in infrastructure, economy, and population structure exacerbate the inequality in RFDR between town and rural areas; (3) 44 % of town areas in the study region fall into high RFDR categories, while only 16 % of rural areas do. Additionally, rural RFDR is strongly positively correlated with the distance to nearby towns; (4) Town RFDR is 1.33 times higher than rural RFDR throughout the disaster cycle. The paper concludes with a discussion of the evolving RFDR inequality and offers recommendations for improvement, aiming to support local government efforts to reduce town-rural disaster disparities. • A framework for assessing RFDR in town and rural areas has been developed. • This study precisely quantifies the disparity in flood resilience between town and rural areas. • This study offers insights for key flood control policies in Southwest China's town-rural mountainous areas.