Neighborhood Resilience Research Articles

Assessing Urban Neighbourhood Resilience to Covid 19 Pandemic in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

The sudden incidence of COVID-19 at Wuhan in China in December 2019 with its significant death globally and other negative socio-economic impacts has awakened the need to make human settlements resilient to unforeseen tragedy. Nigeria and Jos the capital of Plateau State have had negative experiences with the incidence of covid 19. Considering this, the study aims at assessing the resilience of urban neighbourhoods in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State to COVID-19 pandemic. The study objective is to examine the pattern and characteristics of some selected neighborhoods within Jos the study area. In addition to examining the characterisation of infrastructural facilities and to evaluate the environmental challenges that impede adherence to non-pharmaceutical protocols to COVID-19. Two neighbourhoods, Angwan Rukuba and Fudawa were selected to represent the entire Jos North Local Government Area. Relevant literature related to the study was reviewed. The study adopted a direct observation method of the physical characteristics of the neighborhoods and a simple sampling technique of survey where a structured questionnaire was administered to 138 respondents in the two neighborhoods. Descriptive analysis using percentages and tables in relation to the data obtained was used to draw inferences and conclusions. The results obtained shows that the sampled neighborhoods are densely congested informal settlements with unorganized settlement pattern, lacking in basic neighbourhoods’ infrastructure, and poor circulation, among others. These findings imply that the environmental setting of the study area makes compliance with non-pharmaceutical protocols during COVID-19. pandemic difficult. By implication, the neighborhoods lack the resilience capability to cope with the COVID-19. pandemic. The study recommends the need for planning and upgrading of the neighbourhoods’ facilities along with stakeholder public enlightenment on the need to comply to COVID-19. non-pharmaceutical protocols as a step toward building resilient neighbourhoods in Jos North Local Government Area and the metropolis at large.

Co-Production for Equitable Governance in Community Climate Adaptation: Neighborhood Resilience in Houston, Texas

<p>As urban areas grapple with the pressing impacts of climate change, fostering community-level resilience becomes imperative. Co-production, emphasizing active stakeholder engagement, offers a pathway to robust, equitable, and inclusive adaptation strategies. This article delves into the co-production processes within neighborhood resilience planning in Houston, Texas, revealing how collaboration between communities, planners, and municipal leaders can address climate vulnerabilities and support disadvantaged groups. Through an empirical analysis of three Houston neighborhoods, the study evaluates co-production’s role in promoting neighborhood-scale adaptive capacity and reshaping power dynamics to advance equity and environmental justice. The results highlight the significance of local institutions and the necessity of municipal commitment to co-production efforts. The study contributes actionable insights on the application of co-production in neighborhood climate adaptation, emphasizing the need for direct municipal engagement to implement transformative spatial projects and rebalance governance frameworks for effective climate action.</p>

Flexible Resources Key to Neighborhood Resilience for Children: A Scoping Review.

Neighborhoods have been the focus of health researchers seeking to develop upstream strategies to mitigate downstream disease development. In recent years, neighborhoods have become a primary target in efforts to promote health and resilience following deleterious social conditions such as the climate crisis, extreme weather events, the global pandemic, and supply chain disruptions. Children are often the most vulnerable populations after experiencing unexpected shocks. To examine and describe conceptually the construct of Neighborhood Resilience, we conducted a comprehensive scoping review using the terms ("resilience" or "resiliency" or "resilient") AND ("neighborhood"), utilizing MEDLINE (through PubMed) and CINAHL (through EBSCOhost) databases, to assess overall neighborhood themes that impact resilience. A total of 57 articles were extracted that met inclusion criteria. Extracted characteristics included study purpose, country of origin, key findings, environmental protective/risk factors. The analysis revealed a positive relationship between neighborhood resource density, neighborhood resiliency, and individual resiliency. This study reports the finding for studies with a population focus of pre-school age and school age children (1.5-18 years of age). Broadly, we identified that the primary goals regarding neighborhood resilience for childhood can be conceptualized as all activities and resources that (a) prevent trauma during childhood development and/or (b) mitigate or heal childhood trauma once it has occurred. This goal conceptually encompasses antecedents that increase protective factors and reduces risk factors for children and their families. This comprehensive look at the literature showed that a neighborhood's ability to build, promote, and maintain resiliency is often largely dependent on the flexible resources (i.e., knowledge, money, power, prestige, and beneficial social connections) that are available.

Exploring the relationship between neighborhood environment and transport disadvantage during the COVID-19 lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted residents’ access to services and participation in socio-economic activities, aggravating transport disadvantage. Environmental intervention strategies are expected to alleviate the disadvantage, but relevant knowledge is limited. Based on a self-administered survey data collected in Melbourne, Australia during the COVID-19 lockdown, we investigated the impact of neighborhood environments on transport disadvantage. We hypothesized that neighborhood environments influence transport disadvantage by affecting neighborhood satisfaction and perceived discrimination, and then used a structural equation model to test the hypotheses. The results show that accessibility, neighborhood aesthetics, active transport facilities, and neighborhood cohesion were negatively associated with residents’ transport disadvantage during the lockdown. The neighborhood’s capability to meet household needs and residents’ perceived discrimination were two pathways by which the neighborhood characteristics alleviated transport disadvantage. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood satisfaction and mitigating discrimination are promising environmental intervention strategies to enhance neighborhood resilience.

Family and Neighborhood Resilience Are Associated with Children's Healthcare Utilization

To evaluate the association of external factors of resilience, neighborhood, and family resilience with healthcare use. A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted using data from the 2016-2017 National Survey of Children's Health. Children aged 4-17years were included. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine aOR and 95% CIs for association between levels of family resilience, neighborhood resilience and outcome measures: presence of medical home, and ≥2 emergency department (ED) visits per year while adjusting for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), chronic conditions, and sociodemographic factors. We included 58 336 children aged 4-17years, representing a population of 57688434. Overall, 8.0%, 13.1%, and 78.9% lived in families with low, moderate, and high resilience, respectively; 56.1% identified their neighborhood as resilient. Of these children, 47.5% had a medical home and 4.2% reported ≥2 ED visits in the past year. A child with high family resilience had 60% increased odds of having a medical home (OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.37-1.87), and a child with moderate family resilience or resilient neighborhood had a 30% increase (OR, 1.32 [95% CI, 1.10-1.59] and OR, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.20-1.43], respectively). There was no association between resilience factors and ED use, although children with increased ACEs had increased ED use. Children from resilient families and neighborhoods have an increased odds of receiving care in a medical home after adjusting for the effects of ACEs, chronic conditions, and sociodemographic factors, but no association was seen with ED use.

Influence of cross-scale measures on neighborhood resilience

Influence of cross-scale measures on neighborhood resilience

System resilience and neighbourhood action on social determinants of health inequalities: an English Case Study.

Aims:This article seeks to make the case for a new approach to understanding and nurturing resilience as a foundation for effective place-based co-produced local action on social and health inequalities.Methods:A narrative review of literature on community resilience from a public health perspective was conducted and a new concept of neighbourhood system resilience was developed. This then shaped the development of a practical programme of action research implemented in nine socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in North West England between 2014 and 2019. This Neighbourhood Resilience Programme (NRP) was evaluated using a mixed-method design comprising: (1) a longitudinal household survey, conducted in each of the Neighbourhoods For Learning (NFLs) and in nine comparator areas in two waves (2015/2016 and 2018/2019) and completed in each phase by approximately 3000 households; (2) reflexive journals kept by the academic team; and (3) semi-structured interviews on perceptions about the impacts of the programme with 41 participants in 2019.Results:A difference-in-difference analysis of household survey data showed a statistically significant increase of 7.5% (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.6 to 13.5) in the percentage of residents reporting that they felt able to influence local decision-making in the NFLs relative to the residents in comparator areas, but no effect attributable to the NRP in other evaluative measures. The analysis of participant interviews identified beneficial impacts of the NRP in five resilience domains: social connectivity, cultural coherence, local decision-making, economic activity, and the local environment.Conclusion:Our findings support the need for a shift away from interventions that seek solely to enhance the resilience of lay communities to interventions that recognise resilience as a whole systems phenomenon. Systemic approaches to resilience can provide the underpinning foundation for effective co-produced local action on social and health inequalities, but they require intensive relational work by all participating system players.

City love and neighbourhood resilience in the urban fabric: A microcosmic urbanometric analysis of Rotterdam

Ups and downs in city life are dependent on the citizens' appreciation for their urban ‘home’, in particular the neighbourhood liveability. Taking modern research on urban wellbeing and happiness as a point of departure, this study presents and tests a new methodology for assessing the residents' affection for their local neighbourhood. This approach is inspired by the ‘city love’ concept and seeks to examine and decompose city love through an analytical distinction into the ‘body and soul’ of the city. Using a rich multi-period and geographically detailed database on neighbourhoods in the city of Rotterdam, including distinct social capital indicators for analysing social resilience in urban areas, a microcosmic decomposition of objective and subjective socio-economic information is carried out. On the basis of geo-science visualisation methods and advanced spatial-econometric techniques for handling neighbourhood autocorrelation effects (‘urbanometrics’), a series of explanatory regression analyses is executed in order to identify and explain the determinants of city love at neighbourhood level in Rotterdam. We find that bonding and bridging social capital are prominent in shaping neighbourhood love and social resilience.

The bicycle as 'constructive hope': Children, climate and active transport.

Children are experiencing an increase in so-called 'eco-anxiety'. Along with others, we argue that children need more concrete, meaningful opportunities to feel they can make a difference in climate. In this article, we contend that bringing back the bicycle, and the opportunities for independent and active mobility that it affords children, is an important form of climate action for young people. We assert that as well as providing sustainability and wellbeing co-benefits for children, cycling can help bolster the neighbourhood resilience and social cohesion that will be key resources for communities adapting to new climate risks.

Public space as water infrastructure strategy in achieving runoff flood resilience on a neighborhood scale

Jakarta is a delta city that stands on an alluvial deposits land with 13 rivers from various parts of the city flowing through the town. It makes Jakarta vulnerable to natural disasters related to water elements, one of which is runoff flooding caused by insufficient river water capacity to accommodate an additional water volume. With the extra unaccommodated water volume, water overflows and cannot be reabsorbed by the land surface to stagnate into areas prone to flooding and disrupt people’s activities. Jakarta needs an area resilience against runoff flood disasters, which can be achieved by building infrastructure that is constructed holistically against the city’s water elements to accommodate temporary storage of falling rainwater. We used case studies to analyze Jakarta’s existing park and its potential. We also analyzed Benthemplein Water Square, Rotterdam, Netherlands, to see how the city can build neighborhood resilience. We conclude that public space as the solution for Jakarta’s runoff floods is possible as long as its site context is considered during the design phase. Rotterdam shows that even though the green area is not the dominant part, the built environment can help discharge the rainwater to the nearby river as long as it has a good infrastructure design that can accommodate rainwater storage.

The Social Organization of Community-Run Place: An Analysis of Community Gardens and Crime in Vancouver (2005–2015)

Community gardens can bring many benefits to community members, including access to healthy, affordable foods and opportunities for social interaction. Less certain, however, is their contribution to neighbourhood resilience to crime. To date, few studies have focused on the ability of community gardens – as distinct from other types of green spaces – to promote social organization and reduce local crime. Findings of studies that do so are inconclusive, and at best suggestive of gardens’ crime-deterring effects. The present study spotlights community gardens as unique spaces promoting social capital development and attachment to place, testing the effect of new community gardens in Vancouver, BC. Using neighbourhood census data from 2005 to 2015, the effects of new community gardens, as well as median income, population size, homeownership, and ethnic diversity, on property crime are assessed with multilevel modeling. The results show significant negative effects of median income, population size, and new community gardens on crime, with the addition of just one garden reducing neighbourhood crime by approximately 49 counts, and with increases in population size (by 1,000 individuals) and median income (by CAD$1,000) lowering crime by 48 and 34 counts, respectively.

Power, control, communities and health inequalities I: theories, concepts and analytical frameworks.

SummaryThis is Part I of a three-part series on community empowerment as a route to greater health equity. We argue that community ‘empowerment’ approaches in the health field are increasingly restricted to an inward gaze on community psycho-social capacities and proximal neighbourhood conditions, neglecting the outward gaze on political and social transformation for greater equity embedded in foundational statements on health promotion. We suggest there are three imperatives if these approaches are to contribute to increased equity. First, to understand pathways from empowerment to health equity and drivers of the depoliticisation of contemporary empowerment practices. Second, to return to the original concept of empowerment processes that support communities of place/interest to develop capabilities needed to exercise collective control over decisions and actions in the pursuit of social justice. Third, to understand, and engage with, power dynamics in community settings. Based on our longitudinal evaluation of a major English community empowerment initiative and research on neighbourhood resilience, we propose two complementary frameworks to support these shifts. The Emancipatory Power Framework presents collective control capabilities as forms of positive power. The Limiting Power Framework elaborates negative forms of power that restrict the development and exercise of a community’s capabilities for collective control. Parts II and III of this series present empirical findings on the operationalization of these frameworks. Part II focuses on qualitative markers of shifts in emancipatory power in BL communities and Part III explores how power dynamics unfolded in these neighbourhoods.

Urban Planning and Design for Building Neighborhood Resilience to Climate Change

The aim of the paper was to present the procedure of building neighborhood resilience to climate threats, embedded in planning (from the strategic to local level) and design process and focused on usage of natural adaptive potential. The presented approach encompasses: (1) the strategic identification of focal areas in terms of climate adaptation needs, (2) comprehensive diagnosis of local ecological vulnerability and natural adaptive potential to build adaptive capacity, and (3) incorporation of natural adaptive potential through an identified set of planning and design tools. For diagnosis and strategic environmental impact assessment, the multicriteria analysis has been elaborated. The described procedure is applied to the City of Warsaw on the strategic level, by elaboration of the ranking of districts in terms of priority to take adaptation actions based on climatic threats, demographic vulnerability, and assessment of Warsaw Green Infrastructure potential. For further analysis at the planning and design stage, the district with the most urgent adaptation needs has been chosen, and within its borders, two neighborhoods (existing and planned one) with diagnosed ecological sensitivity were selected. Both case studies were analyzed in terms of environmental conditions, urban structure, and planning provisions. It enabled identification of existing natural adaptive potential and assessment of its use. As a result, propositions for enhancing neighborhood resilience to climate change were suggested.

How to assess ecodistrict resilience to urban heat stress under future heatwaves? A case study for the city of Paris

It is now well-known that the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves will strongly increase along the XXIth century, which introduces the urban built environment resilience as a new paradigm. In Paris, the intense 2003 heatwave demonstrated that warm urban temperatures could result in serious adverse health issues. Temperatures were particularly elevated during nighttime, due to the urban heat island effect. Since air-conditioning has not penetrated yet in residential French buildings, studying the potential of combined mitigation strategies at the district and building scale to increase the neighbourhood and buildings resilience in strong urbanized areas under future heatwaves is a key subject matter. The climate change aspect is integrated through a future heatwave weather file, re-assembled from dynamically downscaled multi-year regional climate change projections from the EURO-CORDEX project. The new ecodistrict Clichy-Batignolles in central Paris is chosen as a case study, recognized as innovative for low-energy and environmental solutions. It is composed of high-rise residential and commercial buildings, large green areas, cool surfaces, and reduced anthropogenic sources. We used an Urban Canyon Model (Urban Weather Generator) to model the neighbourhood and different design configurations (building height and density, green and cool surfaces). The designs and measures were evaluated through a sensitivity analysis to analyse their potential to mitigate the urban local microclimate air temperature during the heatwaves. We quantified the neighbourhood resilience and found that the ecodistrict is exposed to a strong urban heat stress under the future intense heatwave. These results highlight how outdoor overheating assessment can be used to evaluate the district mitigation and adaptation strategies. This approach can be used for urban planning, while the modelled future urban heatwaves can be used as an input for building simulations and evaluate the resilience of the buildings to urban heat stress.

An urban modelling framework for climate resilience in low-resource neighbourhoods

Climate predictions indicate a strong likelihood of more frequent, intense heat events. Resource-vulnerable, low-income neighbourhood populations are likely to be strongly impacted by future climate change, especially with respect to an energy burden. In order to identify existing and new vulnerabilities to climate change, local authorities need to understand the dynamics of extreme heat events at the neighbourhood level, particularly to identify those people who are adversely affected. A new comprehensive framework is presented that integrates human and biophysical data: occupancy/behaviour, building energy use, future climate scenarios and near-building microclimate projections. The framework is used to create an urban energy model for a low-resource neighbourhood in Des Moines, Iowa, US. Data were integrated into urban modelling interface (umi) software simulations, based on detailed surveys of residents’ practices, their buildings and near-building microclimates (tree canopy effects, etc.). The simulations predict annual and seasonal building energy use in response to different climate scenarios. Preliminary results, based on 50 simulation runs with different variable combinations, indicate the importance of using locally derived building occupant schedules and point toward increased summer cooling demand and increased vulnerability for parts of the population. Practice relevanceTo support planning responses to increased heat, local authorities need to ascertain which neighbourhoods will be negatively impacted in order to develop appropriate strategies. Localised data can provide good insights into the impacts of human decisions and climate variability in low-resource, vulnerable urban neighbourhoods. A new detailed modelling framework synthesises data on occupant–building interactions with present and future urban climate characteristics. This identifies the areas most vulnerable to extreme heat using future climate projections and community demographics. Cities can use this framework to support decisions and climate-adaptation responses, especially for low-resource neighbourhoods. Fine-grained and locally collected data influence the outcome of combined urban energy simulations that integrate human–building interactions and occupancy schedules as well as microclimate characteristics influenced by nearby vegetation.

Diversity in urban design and neighbourhood resilience in response to the Great Recession

ABSTRACT This research explores how the lack of diversity in newly constructed, mass produced, cookie-cutter type neighbourhoods affected trajectories in response to the Great Recession. Results suggest that design characteristics influenced home sales prices over time and post-Recession, but not when initially sold. Homes in more resilient neighbourhoods have greater façade variation, access to nearby amenities, and open spaces than the non-resilient, but much less proximity to transit. The building in, i.e. what developers are providing and what municipalities are approving, of diversity in design of homes and neighbourhoods through better zoning codes contributed to positive outcomes and increased neighbourhood resilience.

A framework for earthquake resilience at neighborhood level

PurposeDespite long decades of research studies in the field of urban neighborhood resilience, there are still some unknown dimensions. In this regard, the study aims to develop a new framework for assessment of physical and social resilience at neighborhood level against earthquake.Design/methodology/approachAccordingly, first all indicators affecting earthquake resilience at neighborhood level have been determined. Subsequently, they have been weighted and prioritized, using analytical hierarchy process technique. One of the neighborhoods of Tehran city in Iran was selected for the case study. Then, four criteria of “robustness,” “redundancy,” “rapidity” and “resourcefulness” were considered as the basis for assessing neighborhood resilience.FindingsIt is shown that besides four well-known criteria, four other criteria including “adaptability,” “regularity,” “density” and “efficiency” should also be considered to assess earthquake resilience at neighborhood level. Therefore, a new framework is developed and formulated at this level. Paying attention to all eight criteria, the appropriate interventions to improve resiliency can be addressed.Practical implicationsThis study proposes several practical approaches toward the more resilient neighborhoods against earthquakes. By considering the complexity and dynamic characteristics of earthquake resilience, it recommends the implementation of all resilience phases at every neighborhood to increase resilience.Originality/valueThis study proposes a framework in which in addition to physical and tangible indicators of resilience, non-physical and intangible ones are presented. Also, it is shown that besides well-known criteria, other criteria should also be considered using practical and community-based approaches.

Crime and fear in Hollygrove – building neighbourhood resilience

ABSTRACT This chapter describes a case study in social capacity building from the New Orleans neighbourhood of Hollygrove following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Using an action research case study approach, we describe the journey of Hollygrove residents in rebuilding their neighbourhood, focusing on a ten-year period beginning with initial community initiatives in 2008 that led to SafeGrowth training workshop in 2009 and subsequent programming in the following years. The SafeGrowth programmes equipped the resident teams with problem-solving and leadership skills, after which they enacted a series of projects to cut crime and fear. Their newfound skills helped build their capacity to resolve crime problems and facilitate community development. They also discovered how to collaborate with municipal partners to sustain their success and overcome long-standing quality of life issues. We demonstrate how the action research praxis inherent within SafeGrowth offers power for problem-solving and community empowerment, thereby creating a more resilient neighbourhood.

Neighborhood Resilience as an Objective of Congregational Social Action

ABSTRACTAs the scope of state social welfare is reduced, churches and other faith-based organizations are invited into the public realm to help “plug the gap.” This warrants a theological exploration and assessment of community focused diaconal ministries. Much church-based social action seeks to fill-in or fix a fragmenting welfare system, and therefore it often lacks a distinctively Christian theological grounding. The Church should seek a reintegration of its social ministries and spiritual life. This will necessitate a move away from public action that is symbiotic with the public welfare system and towards a mode that is semiotic, pointing to an eschatological horizon. Against dominant community franchising, service provision, or justice campaign approaches, congregational social action should seek to support neighborhood resilience through the building of what could be called “spiritual capital.”

Effect of neighborhood income and consumption on retail viability: Evidence from Seoul, Korea

Retail activities and their performance have been critical issues in studies on urban economics and spatial structure, mixed-use development, retail deserts, and neighborhood gentrification. A debatable topic is whether neighborhood income is associated with retail presence and prosperity. To investigate this, many studies have focused on the connection between neighborhood income and spatial patterns of retail business. However, it is yet to be determined how both neighborhood income and consumption are linked with retail viability, as indicated by sales in retail cluster areas and hinterlands. This study focuses on this unexplored topic and investigates the connection between neighborhood income, consumption, and retail sales. Empirical analysis reveals that higher income and expenditure are correlated with higher retail sales. The influence of neighborhood income on retail sales was stronger than that of neighborhood consumption. The patterns that emerged were more evident in the hinterlands, where many consumers are located and retail presence is lower, than in retail cluster areas that have fewer residents. Regarding types of retail activities, neighborhood income and consumption significantly explain the sales variation of retail stores and restaurants. These findings provide insights for retail-based neighborhood resilience, urban design and transportation policy, and neighborhood economic development.