ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a discussion of the work of Robert Putnam, who is concerned with the nature of social capital, the decline of civic involvement and responsibility, and the implications for communities. Putnam’s pessimistic view is countered by a discussion of Internet use and the development of virtual communities. Turning the focus to natural disasters and their effects on city residents, we investigate a type of community in which social capital is minimal, with the result that many of its poor and aged residents live in virtual isolation. Our particular focus will be on the impact of two heat waves that occurred first in Chicago in 1995 and then in Paris in 2003, and on Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. I conclude the chapter and the book with a brief discussion of the global impact of natural disasters on cities, and how cities may make themselves more resilient against such events.
