Mapping social capital networks of furniture industry - resilience to climate emergency in Damietta city, Egypt

Abdelrahman, NH ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4149-8020 and Elkadi, HA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7482-1037 2022, Mapping social capital networks of furniture industry - resilience to climate emergency in Damietta city, Egypt , in: Cities in a Changing World: Questions of Culture, Climate and Design, 16th-18th June 2021, New York, City Tech, New York City College of Technology, City University of New York (CUNY).

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Abstract

The evolution of people, their economies, and the physical space in which they live are formulated and are in constant change through the dynamic interactions between actors in the community . Hence, understanding community networks and their reflection on economy and space becomes crucial for urban development, especially within the context of climate emergency. Social systems manifest uniquely within each context as culture, lifestyle and various other variables come into play. The type of economy and how people relate to it is also a significant variable to interpret a given context with its potentials and challenges. Within this context, environmental and economic sustainability and risk are critical where social structures display signs of vulnerability which at the same time offer solutions towards resilience. For industry-based cities such as Damietta – Egypt, in which a certain industry or craft is imbedded in the culture and livelihoods of the community, most economic activities are directly or indirectly related to this industry (furniture making in this case) and passed down from one generation to the next. In such a dynamic, the small scale of the economic interactions forms an economic cluster that functions and evolves within its context according to the possibilities and challenges. In this research, the context of MSMEs (medium, small and micro enterprise) is investigated within the centre of Damietta city, towards understanding the effect and magnitude of the social capital networks on the dynamics of the industry in this city, and how social capital has contributed to Damietta being a regional hub for furniture making in the middle east. This paper is part of this research project, where the paper focuses on the mapping of social capital networks in the city according to a field survey of 347 furniture enterprises in Damietta city and a total network of 996 actors in the network (respondents and contacts).

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