Social Capital and Disaster Recovery: a Comparative Case Study of Kobe and Gujarat Earthquake

Although earthquake disasters are often termed as a 'natural' disaster, a critical analysis reveals that most of them are in fact man-made, and caused by the human activities that are related to poor construction practices in both developed and developing countries. Damage scenarios of recent earthquakes show ample examples in support of this statement. While risk perception is an important issue in pre-disaster mitigation initiatives, social capital is considered as an important element in post-disaster recovery processes. Social Capital generally refers to the trust, networks and norms of a group, which influences its social, political and economic performance. Social Capital is used as an indicator to understand the recovery process, comparing the Kobe and Gujarat Earthquake of 1995 and 2001 respectively. After the Kobe earthquake, during the town planning processes, consultative meetings were conducted in designated areas, and it was found to be very effective in facilitating collective decisionmaking. The decision-making process was related to bonding social capital (factors related to community cohesion), linking social capital (links with government decision making), and bridging social capital (through multi-sector networks). It was observed that leadership played an important role in the use of social capital for creating a common voice, which was an essential feature of the post-disaster planning processes. In Bhuj, Gujarat, four case studies in different communities showed that trust in community leaders, networks, norms, and collective actions in the community, were related to higher social capital of the group, thus enhancing smoother and faster decision-making. Comparative studies of Kobe and Bhuj show that higher the social capital, faster the recovery rate, leading to a holistic rehabilitation process. In spite of the economic, cultural and social differences, the process of rehabilitation and its key elements for success are same in Kobe and Bhuj, viz. high social capital and strong leadership in community.