Assessing social resilience in Singapore

Singapore is vulnerable to impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, increased occurrence of flash floods, and higher temperatures that reduce outdoor thermal comfort for its residents. What are ways to assess the social resilience of a community against such risks?

Prof. Renate Schubert, Dr Natalia Borzino, Dr Layla Khoja, and Dr Jonas Joerin from Future Resilient Systems (FRS) conducted a study to assess whether information and activation events that activate a community can improve social resilience within a community. A further aim was to better understand the key factors determining the social resilience of a community against climate change-related risks. Cambridge Road, a residential area in Singapore, served as a case for this study, which is part of a multi-stakeholder “Building Community Resilience by Design” project led by the external page Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC).

At the core of the study were surveys conducted before and after activation events, including tree-planting and/or CLC’s pop-up booths. These surveys provided information to measure the residents’ social resilience based on a set of indicators and how it changed over time.

Results show that residents of Cambridge Road who participated in both types of events have a higher level social resilience as compared to those who only participated in one event or in none of the events. In particular, residents who participated in both events have a high level of climate change awareness and social capital.

This study suggests that activation events to inform residents or involve them in practical measures to adapt to climate change can result in co-benefits such as, developing social capital and building greater social cohesion.

For full details, please download the working report Download Social Resilience and Climate Related Risks in Singapore: Insights from a Case Study at Cambridge Road (PDF, 3.4 MB)