Suchergebnisse

The study presented in this article adds to the body of research on the socio-cultural dimension of sustainable cities by looking at the efforts of the City of Freiburg, Germany to create neighborhoods that acknowledge the importance of the social dimension of sustainable development. The research in this article is centered on evaluating the social responses of living in Freiburg's two recognized sustainable neighborhoods Rieselfeld and Vauban. The study focuses on the motivational factors that prompted todays residents of the two neighborhoods to move there in the first place, their level of satisfaction living there now, and their perceived social interactions and level of community engagement. Result show that satisfaction with living in a place and reinforcing its assets through social resiliency or livability can result in long-term community staying power. In general, there were few differences in preferences ratings of physical and social assets between the two communities. The levels of importance of social factors contributing to place satisfaction and staying power were not significantly different in both neighborhoods. Having a "cluster" of social factors present that were important to residents contributed significantly to place satisfaction. In fact, survey results showed that it was these social factors that were seen as more important to place satisfaction than the physical attributes of sustainable developments.

The disasters that occurred during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season not only became an economic burden for federal and local governments but also for those who had their houses damaged and lived without electricity, water, and related necessities 1 year after. In the case of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico, ineffective oversight of the large‐scale humanitarian crisis also contributed to long‐term delays in recovery efforts. This paper explores how barrios (small legal divisions) can use social capital to recover and potentially increase resilience before after a disaster. By looking at two rural barrios in Puerto Rico, the study presents how the communities' actions pre‐and‐post‐Hurricane María assisted the residents in coping and reducing vulnerability. The study conducted semi‐structured interviews with community leaders to assess the communities' capacities in their organizations, emergency management, collaborations, and ongoing efforts to mitigate future shocks. A thematic analysis for each site described three key dimensions of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) that these communities leveraged to enhance resiliency. Findings show that social capital facilitated recovery efforts and enhanced resiliency through shared values, network expansion, new partnerships, and a desire to make their communities more robust and less vulnerable to upcoming environmental disturbances.