Quantifying Social Capital in Disaster-Prone Areas: A Comparative Study of Formal and Informal Settlements

Abstract

Today our society is paying a heavy price for its negligent approach towards the environment in the form of climate change. Global warming and natural disasters related to climate change have vastly increased in number. The ever-increasing natural hazards such as flooding, cyclones, drought, extreme weather events, etc., have become a dilemma that demands our utmost attention. Most of the research has been based on understanding hazards such as scales developed to measure seismic activity, wind speed, flood flow, etc., which has resulted in the formation of new materials and building techniques. Society as a whole has been ignored on all levels. The concept of self-mobilization of the community, i.e., making a community self-reliant, has held no importance at all. Social cohesion matters to community resilience because social ties in a community can offer a kind of communal insurance or capital where members can share information and resources, increasing the capacity of communities to respond to a crisis. The study carried out intends to quantify social capital in disaster-prone areas of formal and informal settlements. The study has been conducted in the formal and informal settlements of the city of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The sample size 400 was calculated through Slovin’s formula. Each settlement was assigned a sample of 100 respondents. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey. The indicators are identified through existing research and divided into four components: socio-economic characteristics, civic and political participation, network ties and trust, and consolidated and knowledge resources. Three out of four components have been quantified to measure social capital in disasters. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and independent t-test have been used for analysis. A comparison of each component has been made between both settlements, and lastly, the overall social capital of both settlements is calculated. This is an index-based study. The quantification of dimensions of social capital shows that civic and political participation is the same in formal and informal settlements. Informal settlements have stronger social ties and networks and more trust in the community to help them in crisis, while formal settlements have more consolidated and knowledge resources. The overall social capital is greater in the informal settlements as well the correlation between actual and perceived social capital is also positive.