Building equitable flood resilience across unequal contexts: A comparative analysis of England and Pakistan

Abstract

Flood risk is socially differentiated, yet resilience policy can obscure unequal capacities to prepare, respond, recover and adapt. This study compares the social equity of contemporary flood-risk governance in England and Pakistan, two contrasting national settings with substantial exposure but markedly different institutional and socioeconomic conditions. A structured, focused comparative review synthesises peer-reviewed research and authoritative policy documents, concentrating on evidence published from 2022 to 2026 while retaining selected foundational sources. The analysis applies recognition, distributive and procedural justice to examine social vulnerability, governance, participation, risk information, protection, finance and recovery. Findings show that England benefits from mature risk-management institutions, investment mechanisms and insurance, but inequalities persist in vulnerability recognition, access to household-level measures and influence over decisions. Pakistan faces deeper resource constraints, livelihood insecurity, gendered vulnerability and uneven local implementation despite increasingly inclusive post-2022 recovery policy. Across both settings, socially just adaptation depends on vulnerability-sensitive assessment, accessible warnings, transparent resource allocation, meaningful participation and recovery that strengthens long-term adaptive capacity. The study concludes that transferable principles are more robust than direct policy transplantation across unequal settings.