Regional resilience analysis: A multiscale approach to optimize the resilience of interdependent infrastructure

Abstract Reducing hazard‐induced disruptions to infrastructure functionality is cardinal to regional resilience. Specifically, effective strategies to enhance regional resilience require: (a) developing mathematical models for infrastructure recovery; (b) quantifying resilience associated with the developed recovery process; and (c) developing a computationally manageable approach for resilience optimization. This paper proposes a rigorous mathematical formulation to model recovery, quantify resilience, and optimize the resilience of large‐scale infrastructure. Specifically, a multiscale model of the recovery process is proposed that significantly reduces the computational cost, while favoring practical and easily manageable recovery schedules. To quantify regional resilience, resilience metrics are proposed that capture the temporal and spatial variations of the recovery process. The paper then formulates a multiobjective optimization problem that aims to improve regional resilience in terms of the proposed metrics, while minimizing the recovery cost. Finally, the paper illustrates the proposed formulation by considering interdependent infrastructure in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States.