Takeuchi How to Augment Decline of Social Capital Session: Working With Partners, Sharing the Risks Author (s): Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, Director, ICHARM, Japan [email protected] ABSTRACT In any countries, human relations and its network are declining especially in urban areas. It is the decline of social capital and causes various problems in case of disasters and other difficulties. Without good human network in local communities, preparedness and emergency response do not function properly. What can be done to augment or replace it? The presentation proposes to discuss this question. INTRODUCTION Social capital is a capacity of human network of society such as family, company and local community to absorb the hardship, share the well-being, safeguard the weak and share the obligation by working together and helping each other with or without institutional arrangements. It is crucial for disaster management. Once disasters occur, it is so important to help each other on spot before public help arrives, during evacuation and rescue operation and when rehabilitation takes place. But unfortunately in most of countries especially where economy is rapidly developing, the social capital is declining. Many people have little time and incentives to maintain closer relation with neighbors in their residential community. As a result, neighbors become unknown each other and do not help each other even at need. Its decline is so serious and does make the disaster management difficult by increasing the necessary extent of care in the public help larger. It increases vulnerability of society. Question here is how to cope with this problem. DECLINE AND RECOVERY OF HUMAN NETWORK IN COMMUNITY Decline of Social Capital. Social capital is formed in a long time such as over generations by the residents who share the common interests, enjoyment or difficulty on their life. But such human relation among neighbors is getting weaker especially in urbanized areas. The reasons may be the following: People in urbanized areas - do not necessarily live long in the same place (migration and high labor mobility), - do not live with multi generations, - do not maintain local festivals or other traditions, - do not necessarily work nearby but commute to distant working places, - do not have time nor incentives to pay enough attention to their neighbors but live rather independently with their own business. Under such conditions, societal experiences in the community are difficult to be shared and passed over successive generations and the culture of community defense of mutual help is difficult to be maintained. Takeuchi Alternative Courses of Actions. The question is then: How to retrieve or augment such human network especially in urban community? There are at least two possible actions: (1) To promote community activities such as athletic meetings, festivals, discussion gatherings etc. and raise the awareness on the need of human network at difficulties of any kinds in a community. (2) To promote use of advanced technologies such as forecasting and warning dissemination with knowledge based-instructions such as forecasts through cellphones. An Example. In the case of Ise City in the central part of Japan where the Ise Shrine http://www.isejingu.or.jp/english/ is located, the shrine rebuilding every 20 years has been exercised since its foundation in 1200 years ago. During such a rebuilding endeavor, a system of mutual help necessarily work involving many people and communities in the City. The human network established during the endeavor works perfect when community faces difficulty of any other kinds including natural disasters even with little preparation for any particular events. In 7 July 1974, for example, Japan was hit by a serious frontal rainfall and 146 persons died in the nearby regions but no single person died in Ise City regardless that the rainfall was particularly heavy there. QUESTIONS FOR PARTICIPANTS Please provide your answers to the following: 1. How is the decline of social capital in your country and what kind of visible impacts are observed during any disasters? 2. Are any actions emerging to retrieve social capital in your country? 3. Can forecasts and information technology replace the decline of social capital? FURTHER READING Tanaka and Kuribayashi (2010) A tale of Ise-Enza, ICHARM Publication no.17. http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/publication/pdf/2010/4165_enza.pdf