Assessment of Natural Disaster Coping Capacity from Social Capital Perspectives: A Case Study of Bangkok

Abstract

Many cities and regions have recently experienced economic and environmental losses due to natural disasters. Economic losses are particularly high in urban areas where population and many economic activities are highly concentrated. Urban communities’ abilities and capacities to cope with natural disasters are essential to understand the impacts of natural disasters. Urban communities’ coping capacity is found to be closely linked to social capital of such communities. This paper aims to assess the natural disaster coping capacity of urban residents with social capital approach. The case study is Bangkok, Thailand. Using principal component analysis (PCA), the analysis shows that social cohesion, empowerment, and trust plays a key role in social capital level of Bangkok residents. Mapping social capital index at the district level suggests that urbanization may be contributable to the level of social capital.