Determinants of household resilience to fire in informal settlements: Evidence from the bastis in Delhi, India

Fire incident in informal settlements is a complex phenomenon that results in destructive outcomes, and therefore, demands the development of resilience at the household level. Building resilience to fire in these households is often an outcome of the interplay among various factors, which is yet to be examined in the Indian context. In this study, we take the case of the informal settlements ( bastis ) in Delhi, India, and attempt to explore the factors that affect household resilience to fire incidents. Based on the previous literature and frameworks on resilience to disasters, we developed 13 hypotheses across five broader domains. We conducted surveys of 253 households across 30 bastis and further employed PLS-SEM to test the hypothesis using the survey dataset. The findings show that previous experience of fire is the strongest determinant of household resilience to fire in the bastis, followed by other factors like household economic condition, social support, sense of place, etc. Building on these insights, the study recommends actionable policy avenues leveraging mutual trust, previous experience, and participatory action. The study contributes to the presently developing scholarship on human behaviour in fire in informal settlements and aligns with the SDG-11 on resilient urbanism.