Hubs and Stewards: A Proposed Expansion of the Seattle Community Emergency Hubs in West Seattle and the South End

Abstract

Along with the increased frequency and severity of natural disasters our world, nation, and region of Seattle and the Puget Sound will face as a result of climate change, our region also lies in an area expected to experience a major earthquake – “the big one” – someday in the future. Facing such dangers, experts recognize that a key ingredient of community resilience can be found in local social capital – relationships between groups and individuals in a community – and that local social capital can be sourced and cultivated at community spaces and institutions which act as social infrastructure. A Seattle grassroots organization, the Community Emergency Hubs, has been created to mobilize local social capital for preparedness and relief, and spatially manifests itself as emergency “hubs” at various points of social infrastructure. As the damage caused by “the big one” could cause West Seattle and the South End to experience some degree of physical isolation in its aftermath, it is important that the emergency hubs in these areas make the most of the social capital and social infrastructure available to them, selecting appropriate community sites that promote safety, accessibility, and inclusivity, along with local organizations and institutions to partner with as “stewards.”