Human mobility under disasters: a systematic review and framework for equitable and resilient mobility governance

Global crises, including climate-induced disasters and health emergencies, are disrupting human mobility, making it critical to understand population movements for effective planning. Here, we systematically review 946 studies, framing mobility as simultaneously responding to external shocks and transmitting impacts. Our analysis first maps the field’s methodological and geographic landscape before focusing on three dimensions: (1) universal response patterns to external shocks, (2) structural inequalities mediating these responses, and (3) cascading effects from mobility to other interconnected systems. We identify predictable temporal and spatial dynamics in human mobility responses driven by adaptive behaviors and psychological factors. Ultimately, these responses are filtered through vulnerability pathways determined by income, race, gender, and disability status, transmitting cascading effects across environmental, health, and economic systems. Based on the review findings, we propose the FAIR-HEART framework for equitable mobility governance and discuss the future directions, providing actionable guidance for building resilient societies.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  npj Natural Hazards

• Publication date

  2025-11-07

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Political Science, Geography, Environmental Science, Sociology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1038/s44304-025-00153-9PMID 41210165PMCID 12592217
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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