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1- Ayandegan University
Abstract: (15 Views)
Background and Objective: under conditions of hybrid threats, the vulnerability of urban infrastructures can no longer be explained solely in terms of physical destruction. Rather, functional disruption, reduced service continuity, and disturbances in economic flows may lead to effective infrastructure failure even in the absence of large-scale physical devastation. However, a significant part of the existing literature has examined the physical, functional, and economic dimensions of infrastructure failure separately. This study aims to conceptualize the economic failure of urban infrastructures under hybrid threats and to propose an analytical framework that explains the link between physical damage, functional disruption, and economic consequences from a passive defense perspective.
Method: in terms of purpose, this study is developmental, and in terms of nature, it is analytical and conceptual. Its data were collected through document analysis and a targeted review of specialized literature in the fields of hybrid threats, infrastructure resilience and failure, interdependency of critical systems, and the economic consequences of infrastructure disruption. The findings were then structured using conceptual synthesis.
Findings: The findings show that the economic failure of infrastructure is not necessarily a direct consequence of physical destruction; rather, in many cases, it emerges through functional disruption and the persistence of operational inefficiency. Accordingly, the conceptual Economic Infrastructure Failure Index (EIFI) is proposed on the basis of three dimensions: physical damage, functional disruption, and economic consequence. The proposed model indicates that hybrid threats, by creating technical constraints, disrupting service delivery, and intensifying economic shocks, can prevent infrastructure from performing its effective economic role even when it retains relative structural survival.
Conclusion: The results indicate that, in analyzing the vulnerability of urban infrastructures, an exclusive focus on physical hardening is insufficient. Passive defense policy should also prioritize the preservation of the economic continuity of infrastructure functions.
Method: in terms of purpose, this study is developmental, and in terms of nature, it is analytical and conceptual. Its data were collected through document analysis and a targeted review of specialized literature in the fields of hybrid threats, infrastructure resilience and failure, interdependency of critical systems, and the economic consequences of infrastructure disruption. The findings were then structured using conceptual synthesis.
Findings: The findings show that the economic failure of infrastructure is not necessarily a direct consequence of physical destruction; rather, in many cases, it emerges through functional disruption and the persistence of operational inefficiency. Accordingly, the conceptual Economic Infrastructure Failure Index (EIFI) is proposed on the basis of three dimensions: physical damage, functional disruption, and economic consequence. The proposed model indicates that hybrid threats, by creating technical constraints, disrupting service delivery, and intensifying economic shocks, can prevent infrastructure from performing its effective economic role even when it retains relative structural survival.
Conclusion: The results indicate that, in analyzing the vulnerability of urban infrastructures, an exclusive focus on physical hardening is insufficient. Passive defense policy should also prioritize the preservation of the economic continuity of infrastructure functions.
Keywords: Passive Defense, Economic Infrastructure Failure, Hybrid Threats, Urban Infrastructure, Economic Infrastructure Failure Index (EIFI)
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