Social Capital

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What Is Social Capital?
The basis behind social capital is that investment in social relations will yield expected returns in many different markets such as, the community, economy, politics and labor; individuals interact and engage in social networking building bonds, trust, bridging and reciprocity which creates expected returns, profiting the community. Thus the more social capital there is within a community the better off the community is. Studies have shown that societies with high social capital tend to be more desirable places to live, educational performance is higher, there is less poverty, kids watch less TV, crime rates are lower, economic equality is higher, there is a higher tolerance of gender, racial equality and civil liberties and an overall higher civic equality.

Social Capital Is Measured Through A Few Key Components Of A Community:

• Participation in the local community – involvement of individuals in community activities
• Feelings of trust and safety – do people trust the people within the community and feel safe.
• Neighborhood connections – do neighbors interact with one another
• Family and Friends connections - are their tight-knit intimate connections between friends and family within the community
• Work connections - do individuals feel like they are part of a valuable team
• Tolerance of diversity – does the community embrace diversity as a way to enhance upon their quality of life
• Value of life –does the community value the individual
• Social Agency – A sense within the community that as an individual and as a whole community differences can be made

Why Is Social Capital Important?
Along with all the benefits of having a high social capital community I previously mentioned, social capital also improves the sustainability of a community. Sustainability is measured by looking at ecologic, economic and social factors as seen in the Happy Planet Index; social capital is intuitively the social piece of sustainability, but also provides economic benefits as well. Increasing social capital is very important to developers. High social capital communities are already involved with community activities, therefore it is much easier for the developers to involve, consult, collaborate and maintain the development with the community. The involvement of a community provides many benefits to the developers as well as the community; decisions are geared towards the community’s assets, values and goals, the process is faster with minimized conflict and maximizes community commitment. Developments undertaken within a community which has high social capital are more likely to be sustainable.