COVID-19 pandemic and community resilience: Study of gated and non-gated communities of Gurugram, India

The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the functioning of the global community has made it a global disaster, necessitating strengthening communities' resilience capacities to respond to the crisis. The study adopts a neighborhood-based approach, focusing on residential communities, which are the first to experience and respond to disasters. A questionnaire survey of 180 households in gated and non-gated residential communities was conducted to assess their perceptions of resilience. The residential communities identified as containment zones by the district administration have been considered for the study. A principal component analysis was performed based on responses, demonstrating five factors explaining 67.41 % of the variance. The factors are characterized as leadership, preparedness, place attachment, social trust, and collective efficacy, which align with the dimensions of community resilience as per CCRAM (Conjoint Community Resilience Assessment Measure), a perception-based resilience assessment measure. A comparison between the two community types is made by calculating a mean perception score for each dimension considered for both Gated and Non-Gated Communities. The findings reveal a significant difference in resilience perception between the two community types. The factors contributing to positive resilience perceptions are further examined. Perception-based responses are used to compute community resilience scores, and regression analysis is performed to assess the influence of socio-demographic and economic variables. The findings indicate that community resilience is positively influenced by the duration of residence, the highest level of education, and annual family income from all sources. The study highlights the importance of strengthening grassroots networks in fostering resilience by supporting initiatives that promote social cohesion and collective actions.