Social networks and disaster preparedness at the community level: the role of social ties and social infrastructure in connecting people with essential resources

Abstract

In extreme disaster scenarios, community social networks – relationships between community members – can help to connect people with needed knowledge and resources but are rarely leveraged in standard approaches to disaster preparedness. Socioecological resilience theory and social network theory provide a framework for engaging three communities in Washington State to understand how community social networks can be leveraged to support localized self-sufficiency in a disaster scenario. Three empirical studies provide a conceptual framework illustrating how social networks can help to connect people with local resources following a disaster; an analysis of the potential for hyperlocal resource-matching post-disaster; and an analysis of anticipated willingness to share resources in a disaster scenario. The dissertation’s findings provide evidence that local social networks, if strengthened and maintained, hold meaningful potential for connecting people with needed resources in both disaster and everyday scenarios. These findings suggest that ongoing efforts to integrate disaster preparedness concerns into urban planning research and practice should focus on enhancing community-level social networks and social infrastructure.