Building Urban Social Networks and Social Resilience to Natural Hazards at Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Disorganized and isolated poor people in urban regions are facing serious natural hazards (e.g., flood, cyclone, storm, drought), affecting their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building urban resilience networks among disorganized people may promote their social resilience (SR) to the natural adversities aimed at achieving SDGs, including poverty reduction, equality and climate justice. Reviewing social science theory and literature, in this chapter we formulate an integrated theoretical framework that helps understand how integration in bonding, bridging and linking networks (BBLSNs) among social actors promote social processes (e.g., communication, interaction, learning etc.) that, in turn, increase their SR to natural hazards in the urban regions. Evidence in literature and case studies from Bangladesh suggests that integrative BBLSNs are more effective than disintegrative ones to promote social processes that, in turn, increase their SR to the natural hazards, thus achieving SDGs.