Section Four: Social Capital and Special Topics

Neighbourhood/Community Social Capital

Neighbourhood or community social capital refers to mutual trust, norms, networks, and social participation among community members, which jointly promote collective action and mutual help, significantly enhancing community well-being and the quality of life for residents (Onyx & Leonard, 2010; Putnam, 2000). Community social capital can play a role in the following aspects:

Promoting Collective Action

Neighbourhood/community social capital facilitates residents' collective action in addressing common community issues, such as community safety, environmental protection, and public infrastructure construction (Halstead et al., 2022). Community social capital helps residents connect, participate to identify issues and strengths, plan collective actions, and jointly improve the community (Chaskin, 2008). In times of crisis, such as earthquakes, floods, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, community social capital can play a positive role, transforming into community resilience and recovery, promoting residents to cope with various difficulties and rebuild the community collectively (Gero et al., 2020; Hall et al., 2023; Zahnow et al., 2018).

Improving Economic Development

Neighbourhood/community social capital promotes economic activities, driving entrepreneurship and employment within the community (Coleman, 1988; Hellerstein & Neumark, 2020). Community trust and networks help reduce transaction costs, foster economic development partnerships, and encourage economic activities within and across regions (Oh et al., 2014).

Enhancing Health

As mentioned earlier, social capital significantly impacts community residents’ mental and physical health (Kawachi et al., 2008). In addition, social capital can promote healthy behaviours and collective actions within the community, create a supportive and healthy community environment, and assist in implementing health services and public health policies (Eriksson, 2011).

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