A systematic review of enhancing urban disaster resilience for smart cities: from a perspective of social network analysis.

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines how Social Network Analysis (SNA) contributes to understanding and enhancing urban resilience, addressing the need to integrate social dimensions beyond technology-driven smart city approaches.

Methods: A systematic literature review combining bibliometric and content analysis was conducted on 89 peer-reviewed articles to identify key themes, node types, and applications of SNA in resilience research.

Results: Findings show that urban resilience is shaped by interactions among community, institutional, and infrastructure networks, though most studies focus on isolated network types. SNA applications have evolved from small-scale surveys to social media and multi-source data, yet longitudinal analyses remain limited. Highly central nodes are often assumed to enhance resilience, but causal relationships are rarely tested. Additionally, social ties, community engagement, and behavioral factors emerge as critical drivers, while challenges persist in data integration, dynamic analysis, and incorporating human behavior into network models.

Conclusion: Advancing SNA for urban resilience requires integrating diverse data sources, longitudinal approaches, and behavioral insights to support more inclusive, adaptive, and evidence-based urban policy and disaster management strategies.