Structural resilience disparities in regional city networks under the influence of Typhoon Fitow and COVID-19

The integration of regional city networks plays a pivotal role in the regional development. Assessing and analyzing the structural resilience of these networks holds significance in enhancing regional comprehensive disaster prevention. This study focuses on the Yangtze River Delta, examining its regional city networks encompassing information, economic, transportation, and innovation domains. Utilizing the social network analysis, projection pursuit model based on the genetic algorithm, coupling coordination degree model, coefficient of variation and spatial Gini coefficient, we scrutinized the structural resilience and evolution difference of these networks under different disasters. We found that the structural resilience of economic and transportation networks that depend on infrastructure construction are more limited by geographical distance, and information and innovation networks with weaker physical dependence have stronger structural resilience. The impact of Typhoon Fitow on the structural resilience of individual networks was mainly concentrated in coastal affected cities, while the impact after COVID-19 was mainly in marginal cities. The spatial pattern of the structural resilience of multiple networks shifted from low level equilibrium to agglomeration development. Finally, nodes were identified into three types according to the resilience performance. This research offers a scientific foundation for quantifying regional resilience and formulating network optimization strategies. •A novel evaluation method for structural resilience disparities in regional city networks is introduced.•The complex relationships between structural resilience of regional city networks and surrogate indexes are revealed.•This research offers valuable insights to formulate development policies adept at coping with diverse disaster scenarios.