By 2050, an estimated three billion people worldwide will live in slums, where climate change will intensify exposure to hydrological hazards, particularly flooding. Strengthening resilience in these communities is therefore urgent. While resilience research often emphasizes material and subjective wellbeing, the relational dimension remains underexplored. This article examines how relational wellbeing relates to household flood resilience in three Indonesian cities – Bima, Pontianak, and Manado – using survey data from the Resilient Indonesian Slums Envisioned (RISE) project. Results show that perceptions of livelihood security, low competition, and subjective material wellbeing increase confidence in securing food, income, and safe evacuation. Conversely, satisfaction with social relations and communal facilities reduces such confidence, suggesting complacency. At the same time, family and community participation foster interest in flood-based livelihoods, supporting adaptation between flood-events. These findings challenge assumptions that social ties universally enhance resilience, showing instead that relational wellbeing can both strengthen and constrain adaptive capacity, with critical implications for culturally grounded urban resilience planning.
Kegel et al. (2025) studied this question.