The critical role of community networks in building everyday resilience - insights from the urban villages of Surabaya

Abstract

The resilience of a community facing hazards and disastrous events is determined by the degree to which the community owns necessary resources and the capacity to self-organise before, during, and after disasters. Social networks are a key aspect of this ability to self-organise and support their participants in the midst of stresses and shocks. Such networks can help address both large-scale and everyday disasters through a range of measures. This research, therefore, aims to understand how community networks can build resilience, using two detailed case studies from urban kampung (village) communities in Surabaya. A variety of methods, including network analysis, are applied to engage and evaluate the resilience of the communities. The analyses of community networks integrate places for interactions, activities, key actors, impacts on community resilience and strategies for strengthening community networks. The findings suggest three important support networks can enhance community resilience. These comprise of neighbours’ networks, women’s networks and political networks. This research therefore serves as a significant and strategic tool for policy makers, city planners, and researchers to better understand how community networks can contribute to everyday resilience and support communities to survive and ultimately thrive.