Uncovering the Overlooked: Exploring Structural Holes to Enhance Urban Flood Resilience in Institutional Networks

Effective flood management requires coordination across fragmented governance clusters, yet the institutional interdependencies connecting these clusters often remain hidden within complicated, multi-layered policy documents. This study develops an integrated analytical framework to identify two distinct types of network vulnerabilities: weak ties—critical existing connections bridging otherwise disconnected clusters—and structural holes—absent relationships whose creation would most effectively improve system integration. We extracted institutional relationships from Korean water governance documents using a rule-based text analysis approach and constructed a directed network representing actors and infrastructure components. Network analysis methods were applied to detect governance clusters and quantify both existing bridges between clusters and potential new connections that would reduce network fragmentation. Our findings reveal complementary vulnerability patterns. Weak ties in Korea's governance system function as critical linkages through central coordinating authorities, connecting national policy-making bodies with local implementation units. This concentration creates critical dependency on few coordination channels. Structural hole analysis uncovered different leverage points: emergency response actors, despite peripheral formal positions, occupy strategic locations where new institutional linkages would most effectively enhance integration across governance domains. The distinction between weak ties and structural holes proves essential for intervention design: existing weak connections require strengthening through resource allocation and protocol clarification, while structural holes demand institutional transformation to create entirely new coordination pathways. This dual diagnostic approach provides a transferable framework for enhancing flood resilience across diverse water governance contexts.

 

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (RS-2024-00356786).