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. 2022;34(1):432-454.
doi: 10.1057/s41287-020-00348-y. Epub 2021 Jan 12.

The emergence of Urban Community Resilience Initiatives During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Exploratory Study

Jan Fransen  1 , Daniela Ochoa Peralta  2 , Francesca Vanelli  3 , Jurian Edelenbos  4 , Beatriz Calzada Olvera  5
Affiliations

The emergence of Urban Community Resilience Initiatives During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Exploratory Study

Jan Fransen et al. Eur J Dev Res. 2022.

Abstract
in English, French

All over the world, urban communities take initiative in order to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study conducts a literature review and an international exploratory study in order to identify pathways within which Community Resilience Initiatives (CRIs) emerge within different governance contexts. The CRIs target vulnerable communities, which are hard to reach. Our study results identify four pathways: (1) informal bottom-up community initiatives; (2) formal community initiatives emerging out of existing community-based initiatives; (3) initiatives of external actors, often NGOs, universities or governments and (4) networks of organisations whom together initiate action in response to COVID-19. The pathways lead to different types, scales and complexities of the initiatives. However, all face similar barriers related to funding, weak networks and limited cooperation. CRIs often perceive the government agencies to be unreliable and unsupportive which in turn also hampers CRI's emergence.

Partout dans le monde, les communautés urbaines prennent des initiatives pour faire face à la pandémie de COVID-19. Cette étude mène une revue de la littérature et une étude exploratoire internationale afin d'identifier les voies par lesquelles les initiatives de résilience communautaire (IRC) émergent dans différents contextes de gouvernance. Les IRC ciblent les communautés vulnérables, qui sont difficiles à atteindre. Les résultats de notre étude identifient quatre voies: (1) les initiatives communautaires informelles ascendantes; (2) les initiatives communautaires formelles issues d'initiatives communautaires pré-existantes; (3) les initiatives d'acteurs externes, souvent des ONG, des universités ou des gouvernements; et (4) les réseaux d'organisations qui, ensemble, entreprennent des actions en réponse à la COVID-19. Ces voies mènent à des initiatives de type, d’échelle et de niveaux de complexité différents. Cependant, elles sont toutes confrontées à des obstacles similaires liés au financement, à la faiblesse des réseaux et à une collaboration limitée. Les IRC perçoivent souvent les agences gouvernementales comme étant peu fiables et peu sources de soutien, ce qui freine également l’émergence du CRI.

Keywords: COVID-19; Community resilience; Community resilience initiatives; Community-based initiatives; Urban governance.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual framework. Source: Authors, 2020
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pathways (number of CRIs). Source: authors
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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