Knowledge gaps in disaster resilience: Public understanding of social and green infrastructure in Japan

: Despite significant investment in disaster-resilient infrastructure, public understanding of these systems remains underexplored. This study examines Japanese public knowledge of social infrastructure (community facilities fostering social cohesion) and green infrastructure (natural systems integrated into urban environments). Through a nationally representative survey (n=650), we assessed knowledge levels using open-ended questions analyzed via OLS regression. Results reveal significant knowledge gaps: respondents better understood social infrastructure than green infrastructure. Education emerged as the strongest predictor for both types, while social capital and perceived effectiveness of disaster measures correlated only with social infrastructure knowledge. Surprisingly, disaster experience showed no significant correlation with knowledge, suggesting experiential learning alone is insufficient. Age negatively correlated with green infrastructure knowledge, and females demonstrated higher social infrastructure knowledge than males. These findings highlight the need for targeted educational interventions to bridge the gap between infrastructure availability and public understanding, ultimately enhancing Japan's disaster resilience through improved citizen engagement.