Applying SNA for the Characterization of the Spatial Organization of XiaoLin Village

Through site visits, interviews, geographical data collection, and periodical update of settlements\´ conditions, this study reconstructs the spatial organization of XiaoLin village in southern Taiwan, destroyed by Typhoon Maroko in 2009. The spatial organizations of the dwellings of the original and new settlements of XiaoLin villagers were analyzed by measures from social network analysis and compared against each other to see whether the "consensus" in spatial organization exist and how it responds to villagers\´ life style. A sustainable community development seeks to balance its environmental, economical, social and cultural needs. In recent years, governments and NGOs in Taiwan invest huge amounts of resources in post-disaster community reconstruction. Their focuses are mainly on environmental and economical fronts. What has often been overlooked is the preservation of the way of life in the original habitat. By applying SNA measures, this study extracts the characteristics of the spatial organization that facilitate the fabrics of everyday life in a human settlement and proposes how this information can contribute to social and cultural preservation in Taiwan\´s post-disaster reconstruction in the future.