Abel Polese (p)

Ilaria Cazzola

Footing on Gudeman (2002) distinction between market and society, a number of studies have tended to emphasise the market or societal angle of informality. In many respects, the boundary between these two aspects is only theoretical, given that most transactions use money to build social bonding or, vice versa. In practice, every informal transaction is embedded both in social and economic motives that differ depending on the context and the geographical settings.
The present contribution is intended to explore, and theorise upon, the institution of moai (模合, small group of friends meeting regularly and creating a common pool of money that can be used by any of them is in need), an old Okinawan tradition of social support that is also embedded in a culture of indebtness and sharing.
Interestingly enough, moai has been the object of a two-standard approach. Whilst in mainland Japan, rules have been introduced to formally strangle the practice the Okinawan prefecture, in the south, has introduced a law to preserve and regulate it. This can be ascribed to the fact that the benefits of a moai are not expected to be necessarily economic but social. By joining a moai, Okinawans gain social support and create emotional dependency upon other people from the same area. Moai has been regarded in the frame of the blue zone projects, investigating social practices and life habits enhancing longevity of a particular population. By force of this, although it is embedded in a formal commitment to honour your financial obligations, its ultimate function is not necessarily economic and a study of moai could help progressing research on alternative and the community economies projects as envisaged by Gibson-Graham.

Mantas Rimidis (p), Mindaugas Butkus

Abel Polese

This paper conducts a systematic literature review to address the current state of regional economic resilience, a topic regaining significance amid recent global crises. Utilizing three search methods across Scopus and Web of Science databases, approximately 550 papers were identified. After deduplication and initial screening, 210 articles were selected for full eligibility review. Five eligibility criteria ensured that the papers' content focused on regional economic resilience and was sufficient in scope. Fifteen data variables were defined and extracted for papers that met the eligibility criteria. Some of the variables included for extraction: the type of the paper (discussion or empirical), regions and periods under research, shock origins, types and attributes of regional economic resilience. The correctness of the values of the extracted data variables was cross-checked with the help of large language models. Preliminary results showed that most papers are empirical and often covered either The Great Recession or COVID-19. Adaptiveness and bounce-back were the most mentioned aspects of regional economic resilience, and the attributes most often used to represent it were employment, GDP, and innovation. Many empirical studies used statistical modeling or created new regional economic resilience indexes. By research count, Europe and Central Asia are the leading geographical regions. Most of the world's research for regional economic resilience is focused on high-income and upper-middle-income countries, while lower-income countries are lagging behind.

Ana Daniel (p)

Mantas Rimidis

The promotion of community resilience is a complex and understudied process. This article aims to contribute to this literature stream by assessing the role of citizen science (CS) approaches in the development of community resilience since CS is considered a promising approach for generating new knowledge by fostering the participation of citizens (non-professional scientists) in research activities. The results show that CS approaches can contribute to community resilience at the institutional level, improving emergency and recovery planning capacity; at the infrastructural level, by contributing to land use planning and urban design; and at the social level, through the creation of community ties and social capital. This contribution is made by facilitating data gathering from new sources or remote places; enhancing community awareness and knowledge about hazard protection; increasing human and social capital; and promoting the cooperation between a community, government, and academia (professional scientists), which is relevant for the development of public policies that are more shaped to local contexts and aligned with communities’ needs and expectations.

Ilaria Cazzola (p), Benedetta Giudice, Manuela Rebaudengo

Ana Daniel

Resilience, a concept that is gaining traction across disciplines, remains fragmented in urban and regional studies and planning, lacking a comprehensive assessment framework. This paper explores the evolving resilience discourse and proposes a spatially explicit approach to evaluating urban and territorial resilience. A literature review highlights a shift from resilience as resistance and recovery to a transformative perspective that embraces positive change in the face of disruption. This transformative approach requires a holistic planning approach that integrates physical, environmental, institutional and social resilience dimensions. To address current assessment limitations, our research aims to develop a systematic framework using spatially specific indicators. This framework categorises indicators based on resilience dimensions and capacities, ensuring a comprehensive assessment. The proposed framework will be applied to the Po River in Turin, Italy. Incorporating transformative resilience and using spatially explicit indicators enables holistic and place-based approaches to planning and resilience enhancement in complex urban contexts.