Building resilience at the local government level will require governance which is able to respond to the growing threats of climate-related risks, while transforming the vulnerabilities of the most marginal populations. This paper considers the influence that social networks have on knowledge exchange and adaptive governance for improving the ability of local governments to build resilience to floods. Using two local government case studies in South Africa, this paper found that the structure of social networks had an effect on the ability of local governments to transform flood vulnerabilities in informal settlements. In the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipality, poor connections among actors resulted in the formation of institutional silos, limited knowledge-exchange processes and inhibited flood risk governance. In the Mossel Bay local municipality, strong social ties facilitated cohesion amongst actors, supported knowledge sharing and benefited flood risk governance. This paper demonstrates how effective social network structures in local governments can stimulate adaptive risk governance, and contribute to the development of coping, adaptive and transformative capacities.

在地方政府层面建立复原力将需要能够应对气候相关风险日益增加的威胁的治理，同时改变最边缘人群的脆弱性。本文考虑了社会网络对知识交流和适应性治理的影响，以提高地方政府建立抗洪能力的能力。本文利用南非的两个地方政府案例研究发现，社会网络的结构对地方政府改造非正规住区洪水脆弱性的能力有影响。在纳尔逊曼德拉湾大都会市，行动者之间的不良联系导致了制度孤岛的形成、知识交流过程有限并抑制了洪水风险治理。在莫塞尔湾当地市政府，强大的社会联系促进了参与者之间的凝聚力，支持知识共享并有利于洪水风险治理。本文展示了地方政府中有效的社会网络结构如何刺激适应性风险治理，并促进应对、适应和变革能力的发展。