A new approach for assessing landslide vulnerability at the urban scale: the case of the city of Constantine, Algeria

The natural risk of landslides is one of the most recurrent major natural risks in the world and one of the main concerns of civil security, since it causes a great deal of material and human damage. In Algeria, the civil authorities give great importance to risk management by implementing a natural disaster strategy that encourages the creation of prevention tools involving researchers, decision-makers, the general public, and the various actors in the field, which has led to studies on vulnerability to various natural phenomena. Constantine is one of Algeria’s cities most at risk from landslides, due to its geology and the economic and social issues at stake. Therefore, we have developed a systemic, multi-criteria approach that puts into perspective the results of research on this risk in the city of Constantine, while defining the interactionist methodological model for vulnerability assessment and outlining the research context and problem. This research contributes to the field by proposing a reproducible, expert-informed methodology for urban-scale landslide vulnerability assessment. The approach is not only scientifically rigorous but also tailored for application in Algerian urban settings, offering new insights into the integration of local knowledge with spatial modeling techniques. The results provide a decision-support tool for urban planners, risk managers, and civil protection authorities.