A Multidimensional Measurement of Subjective Urban Vulnerability in Spain: Delphi Validation of a Psychosocial Variable System

This study addresses the need to establish precise variables to assess subjective urban vulnerability, moving beyond the strictly one-dimensional or perceptual–environmental measurements regularly applied in the study of this territorial reality. Following an initial theoretical proposal, a thematic content analysis of semi-structured interviews was conducted with stakeholders who carry out their professional activity in vulnerable neighborhoods. The diagnostic questionnaire was evaluated through a three-round Delphi process by a multidisciplinary panel of experts from the Spanish university system. The results definitively validated 32 indicators, distributed across three dimensions of subjective urban vulnerability: physical space of the neighborhood (16), social identity (8), and social cohesion (8). In conclusion, this framework provides researchers in the field of territorial science and public managers with a validated, precise instrument for designing interventions tailored to the psychosocial complexity of vulnerable neighborhoods, in the Spanish and European context, improving the understanding and management of these spaces.