Stabilising Routines in Complex Emergencies: How Basic Service Continuity Shapes Perceived Security

ABSTRACT

This study examines how locally embedded actors describe the relationship between basic service continuity and perceived security in complex emergencies, with particular attention to the stabilisation of everyday routines. Using Proximity‐Predictability‐Attributability (PPA) as an analytic lens, we trace how interviewees relate access to water, electricity, health, shelter, and transport to time and mobility constraints in daily life, as well as to perceptions of institutional trust when provision is visible and perceived as fair. The analysis draws on qualitative material from two phases of fieldwork and 33 in‐depth interviews conducted along the Azez‐Mare‐Bzaa‐Al‐Bab‐Çobanbey‐Dabık corridor. Across accounts, participants commonly associate more continuous and legible service provision with routine reorganisation and felt safety, while recurrent outages, price volatility, and unclear attribution are described as undermining these perceived gains. We conclude by discussing design considerations that respondents themselves foreground, including minimum service floors, preventive maintenance, and visible governance arrangements.