Starominski-Uehara, M. (2021). Strengthening community resilience through network building. International Journal of Emergency Management, 17(1), 30-46.
summary by Claude:
This paper argues that individuals tend to mimic the actions taken by close neighbors when deciding how to reduce uncertainty and mitigate risks from floods or other hazards. The key findings are:
The quality of personal relationships with neighbors who have taken protective actions like purchasing flood insurance, raising their homes, or making home improvements is the most significant factor influencing an individual's decision to take those same protective actions. Having a "close" relationship with those neighbors increases the likelihood of mimicking their actions.
The number of neighbors who have taken protective actions and the perceived effectiveness of those actions are less influential than the closeness of the relationships.
Building network communities where residents can interact and develop interpersonal trust is recommended as a cost-effective strategy for increasing community resilience to disasters. This can be facilitated by authorities creating opportunities for residents to meet and connect informally.
The rationale is that close relationships lead to shared norms, values and identities that shape collective risk perception and decision making under uncertainty in ways that motivate protective actions.
In summary, the closeness of neighborhood relationships emerges as the key social network factor driving individual decisions around risk mitigation actions like flood preparedness. Fostering these close-knit community networks is proposed as a policy approach for enhancing resilience.