Social Capital

I was thinking about the relation between social capital and sustainablity and whether or not the two are related. It has been proven that people who have a lot of social capital, and interaction and involvement within their community are much less likely to die of premature causes. But how does this related to sustainability?
Social capital has also been linked to increased feelings of security, decrease in crime rates, the proper functioning of democracy, as well as enhanced development. Once again how does this related to sustainability? Maybe it doesn't, but it must be in some way related. For example this might be a bit of a stretch but if people are healthy, on a whole the government will be spending less on health care, and can incorporate more money into the environment.
I was looking at a survey that was measuring to see how 'walkable', certain communities are and the following list was used to see whether or not people identified how many of the following as 'walkable'.


1. A local corner shop/newsagent
___2. A church
___3. A park (or pitch)
___4. A local school
___5. A Community Center or
Recreation Center
___6. A crèche (or child care facility)
___7. A Chemist (or pharmacy)
___8. A Pub
___9. The place that I work
___10. None of the above. It is
hard to really go anywhere
without a car.

I took this survey for myself twice. Once as I was living in Toronto, and a second time living here in Victoria. My house in Toronto got a 7 out of 10, and my place in Victoria got a 5 out of 10. The distances in both of these cases I decided that personally more than a 20 minute walk I probably wouldn't actually walk it.

Walking to everyday activities is both sustainable and also increases social capital. Walking by other people allows more time for conversation and interaction.

I think I am finding in my posts that I am a firm believer in living within a close knit community where you can both live, work, and play.