The research reported here explores a community that amassed social capital in effective and diverse ways, enabling it to fight a corporate giant and protect critical, large watersheds. We explore how the dynamic interaction between network formation and network structure augmented community social capital, particularly bridging, for increased access to human and economic capital.
Articles
Primary tabs
A local sustainable development initiative to establish a temporary pedestrian zone within a Canadian urban community served as a research study into the efficacy of social capital in the development of a network for community action.
Most planners have heard the term “social capital”. It is becoming common in many community development discussions. Social capital is those features of social organization, like trust, social or cultural norms, and the networks by which communities facilitate action or just keep themselves going.
Sustainable development is a contested concept, but continues to be popular at all levels of organization. At the grassroots level, many groups are creating networks to address ecological and social issues associated with sustainable development.
Using the example of the Dearne Valley in South Yorkshire, England, a notion of multifunctionality, and its potential to be utilized in post-industrial regeneration is explored.
This article describes research that builds on a previous study of social capital conducted in 2002 and 2003 in a Canadian community, exploring the relationship between agency and sustainable community development.
Download: English
Community networks are self-organized groupings that form for many different reasons. Some networks, connected mainly through bonding ties, are based on personal interests and relationships; others, based mainly on bridging ties, centre around broader interests.
What makes a city sustainable? Is it a question of limits or scale - can a city be too big, can a community be too small to be sustainable? Or is it the most energy-efficient state-of-the-art green buildings and recycling programs that make a city sustainable? Or is it about good transit, walkable neighbourhoods and locally-produced foods, goods and services, or diversity?