What is the QOUL framework and how does it relate to Maslow's motivation theory in the context of smart city resilience assessment?

The QOUL (quality of urban life) framework links residents' perceived well-being to urban services and the built environment, with a smaller mismatch between subjective perception and objective conditions meaning a higher QOUL. It is grounded in Maslow's motivation theory, so QOUL is treated as a hierarchy that includes both the right to survival and development. In smart city resilience assessments, this hierarchy groups needs such as basic safety, livelihood, and civic needs, and disruptions like cloudburst waves are evaluated by how they affect these different needs levels.

The QOUL framework assesses urban resilience by connecting subjective perceptions, such as safety and accessibility, with objective infrastructure metrics, such as drainage efficiency and serviceability. It builds on Maslow's motivation theory by viewing QOUL as a hierarchy that includes survival and development rights, rather than as a flat set of dimensions. In practice, the subjective evaluation realm is divided into several layers, and hyperedges link these layers to the objective built environment and urban responses. Resilience curves are then constructed for QOUL over time, quantifying impacts such as maximum impact, duration of impact, and recovery degree for each lifeline system. During cloudburst events, evidence shows that basic safety needs dominate, illustrating the Maslow-style hierarchy in disaster vulnerability and resilience assessment.