Discussion on the Influence of Community Planners on Building Resilient Communities

Abstract

Since 1999, the ‘Community Planner System’ in Taipei has mainly used community awareness to intervene in communities and to strengthen and implement local autonomy and governance through the integration of community differences. Community awareness positively influences the construction of resilient communities, especially when a community encounters environmental distress or various disorderly phenomena. This case study focuses on community planners in Datong District stationed at ‘Changji Corner’ and the community members they serve. A quantitative study was conducted using a structural questionnaire. The purposes of the study were (1) to understand the relationship among community awareness, involvement and autonomy and (2) to determine whether community autonomy is affected by community planners. All hypotheses were accepted: community identity and participation improve community autonomy, and local community planners significantly and positively impact community identity, involvement and autonomy. However, some values indicate that the public’s awareness of community planners is weak, which in turn affects willingness to participate in community activities. The unclear positions and ambiguous duties of community planners can affect the construction of resilient communities.