The Impact of Social Capital and Community Empowerment on Regional Revitalization Practices: A Case Study on the Practice of University Social Responsibility Programs in Wanli and Jinshan Districts

Abstract

Amid accelerating globalization and urbanization, regional revitalization has become a key policy direction for countries to address regional decline. Among these, social capital and community empowerment can significantly promote regional development. Social capital emphasizes how trust, norms, and reciprocity facilitate collective action, while community empowerment focuses on improving residents’ participation and autonomous decision-making capacity. Existing research primarily focuses on cases from Europe and America; there is no in-depth exploration of the interaction between regional revitalization and social capital in Taiwan. Notably, systematic studies are lacking regarding the mechanisms through which University Social Responsibility (USR) programs engage and promote community development. This study takes the Wanli and Jinshan districts in northern Taiwan as case study examples. We employ action research and qualitative research methods to analyze the role of social capital and community empowerment in regional revitalization. This paper reviews how internal trust and cooperation within a community build bonding social capital. It explores how USR programs promote collaboration between communities and external resources through bridging social capital. The findings indicate that bonding social capital can enhance community cohesion and support regional revitalization efforts; bridging social capital can introduce academic, corporate, and governmental resources, providing technical and financial support for community innovation. The participatory mechanism of USR programs not only fosters civic awareness development but also offers a cross-organizational cooperation platform for regional revitalization, enabling communities to integrate internal and external resources more effectively. The results of this study indicate that bonding and bridging social capital can achieve complementary effects through USR programs, further promoting community empowerment and regional development. This study deepens the application of social capital theory in regional revitalization. It provides an empirical basis for policymakers and academic institutions to optimize the planning and implementation of future USR programs. While the study focuses on a geographically bounded set of cases and employs an exploratory qualitative design, these choices enabled a rich, context-sensitive understanding of how regional self-governance and community capital may be strengthened in practice. Future research could extend this line of inquiry by examining additional locales, adopting longitudinal perspectives, and integrating mixed-method approaches, thereby further amplifying the robustness and applicability of the propositions advanced here.