From Governance to Resilience: Understanding Trust and Social Cohesion in Urban Societies

Abstract

This study investigates how governance quality influences citizens’ trust and access to justice, and how these factors, in turn, affect social resilience and shape the human–social nexus in urban societies. Data were collected from 490 respondents through a structured survey. The study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine both measurement and structural models, ensuring reliability, validity, and robustness of the results. The findings reveal that better governance quality strengthens citizens’ trust in public institutions and improves access to justice, which together enhance social resilience. Moreover, governance quality, citizens’ trust, access to justice, and social resilience all significantly contribute to the overall human–social nexus, with social resilience mediating several important relationships. These results highlight the central role of transparent, accountable governance and fair legal systems in fostering trust, resilience, and societal cohesion in contemporary urban contexts. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the mechanisms through which governance quality, citizens’ trust, access to justice, and social resilience promote community cohesion and a stronger human–social nexus. It also offers practical policy insights, emphasizing the need for integrated strategies that combine institutional reform, citizen engagement, and community resilience initiatives to enhance social cohesion and adaptive capacity.