Smart Community and Social Resilience: Reflection on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This paper presents a study on how smart community in Singapore functioned to generate social resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. As conventional community can no longer function amid social distancing and lockdown regulation, smart community began to fill the void that is left behind. The study demonstrated how smart community generated each of the six attributes of social resilience, which has greater importance given the disruption and distress brought about by the pandemic. The analysis revealed how smart community can function to not only maintain but also enhance social resilience. Implications of this study is then presented, with greater emphasis given to future research direction given the embryonic state of this research area. Considering the increasing need for smart community in the new normal of a post COVID-19 world, further research into how smart community may contribute to the social resilience of the community will be needed.