Identification of adaptive capacity’s drivers in an urban river neighbourhood based on community experiences

Abstract

Urban river neighbourhood communities have been swiftly adapting to rapid urbanisation despite the unsolved issues with their rivers. These issues indicate that there are gaps that need to be addressed, particularly the ones related to social aspects. In an attempt to fill in those gaps, this study aimed to identify the drivers of the adaptive capacity of an urban river neighbourhood community in Kg. Pertanian, Kulai, Johor. Data were elicited through focus group discussions with 27 residents followed by subsequent personal interviews. The obtained transcriptions were analysed by Nvivo12. From the results, it was found that there were three dominant drivers, namely 'community identity', 'community response', and 'stakeholder agency'. 'Community identity' refers to the community's contentment with life and its essential neighbourly relationships. 'Community response' reflects the community's process of learning from experience and how its residents used the knowledge to benefit the community's well-being. Finally, 'stakeholder agency' encompasses the community's engagement and communication with stakeholders to avoid conflict during upcoming planning for its urban river and neighbourhood. These drivers were based on the community' experiences or social memory. Interactions during floods and community events became the foundation for social memory. The interactions also bonded the people in the community, which was evident from the residents' participation. All in all, the adaptive capacity and consequently the resilience of the urban river neighbourhood community can be attributed to three drivers: 'community identity', 'community response', and 'stakeholder agency'.