Neighborhood and

Sense of Community

Elena Peruzzi

Why this topic is important?

The study of neighborhood and sense community is important:

• To improve quality of life • To promote psychological adjustment

How?

Developing of Social activity and harmony, promotion of democracy, reducing of segregation and anti social behaviour.

(Belle, 1982; Gottlieb, 1981; Mitchell & Trickett, 1980; Stack, 1974; Unger & Powell, 1980; Unger & Wandersman, 1985; Warren, 1981; Wilcox, 1981).

Neighbourhood is...

“...a locality with physical boundaries, social networks, concentrated use of area facilities, and special emotional and symbolic connotations for its inhabitants” (Keller, 1968, 128)

“...geographic units within which certain social relationships exist" (Downs 1981, 15).

...a place that possessing "common named boundaries, more than one institution identified with the area, and more than one tie of shared public space or social network"

(Schoenberg 1979, 69).

Uses of neighbourhood in public space

There are several uses of public neighbourhood space, for example work, leisure activities (walking, playing), political gathering (protesting, closing street) and movement from place to place.

Types of activities in outdoor public spaces (Gehl 1987)• Necessary activity • Optional activity • Social activity

Direct contacts (playing with others, greeting others and talking to others)Passive contacts (eye contact and nodding, watching events, and listening to others)

Definition of Sense of Community

Sense of Community as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together.”

(McMillan & Chavis, 1986)

Elements of Sense of Community (McMillan & Chavis theory)

Membership • Boundaries• Emotional safety• A sense of belonging and identification• Personal investment• A common symbol system.

Influence Influence works both ways: members need to feel that they have some influence in the group, and some influence by the group on its members is needed for group cohesion.

Integration and fulfilment of needsMembers feel rewarded in some way for their participation in the community.

Shared emotional connection• shared history • shared participation

Domains of sense of community

Kim and Kaplan (2006) • Community (or place) attachment

• Community identity

• Pedestrianism

• Social interaction

Community (or place) attachment

It refers to residents’ emotional bonding or ties to their community. The sense of feeling at home in one’s community can be expressed in a variety of ways:

• Community Satisfaction Residents find their homes and

community satisfactory (C.Cook, 1988; Fried, 1982; Glynn, 1981; Hummon, 1992; Mesch&Manor, 1998; St.John, Austin,&Baba,1986; Zaff & Devlin,1998)

• Sense of Connectedness Residents feel attached to their community when it reminds them of their personal and community history and tradition and familiar environmental characteristics (Giuliani, 1991; Lalli,1992; Sampson,1988)

• Sense of ownership Residents feel they have a sense of control over their homes or community (Appleyard&Lintell,1972;Hummon, 1992).

• Long-term integration long-term residence helps lead to long term social integration into the local area, and such integration creates an emotional bond between residents and their homes and community (Goudy, 1982; Guest &Lee, 1983; Hummon, 1992; Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974; Sampson, 1988; Smith, 1985).

Community identity

is referred to personal and public identifications with a

specific physically bounded community with it's own character.

• Uniqueness or distinctiveness “being different” from others through associating with a group or a place social interaction. (Twigger-Ross & Uzzell, 1996)

• Continuity physical properties of community maintain a link between residents’ past and present environments, which in turn helps preserve their own and community identities (Alexander, Ishikawa, & Silverstein, 1977; Giuliani, 1991; Lalli, 1992; Rowles, 1983; Suttles, 1984)

• Significance self-esteem, pride, referring to a positive evaluation of one self, the group, or the place with which one identifies (Devine-Wright & Lyons, 1997; Korpela, 1989; Lalli, 1992; Lynch, 1960, 1981; Trancik, 1986)

• Congruence or compatibility a “good” fit exists when the environment facilitates people’s everyday lifestyle and when they can perform well in that environment (Hummon, 1990 Kaplan, 1984; Twigger-Ross & Uzzell, 1996)

• Cohesiveness the strong character of community expressed by a sense of homogeneity, intimacy, and compactness (Barrett-Lennard, 1994; Campbell, Converse, & Rogers, 1976; Galster & Hesser, 1981; Robinson & Wilkinson, 1995).

Pedestrianism

Pedestrianism implies that a community is designed for walking and fostering street side activities.

Walkability

In a walkable community, the community’s physical environment is conducive to more walking and less driving (Barber, 1986; Keller, 1978; Untermann, 1990)

Pedestrian propinquity

Residents may feel a sense of community if their community has necessary services with in easy walking distance (Berry,1985; Brower,1996)

Public transit

when the community center, workplaces,and other communities are reachable by public transportation,a community is likely to experience a sense of community and to promote less automobile dependency (Bernick&Cervero,1997)

Pedestrian-scale and street side activity (Increase comfortable feeling)

Social interactionis defined as formal or informal social opportunity in which residents attend to the quality of their relationships. Through such social interactions residents get to know one another and gain a sense of belonging in the community.

Neighboring

Interactions with residents living next door or on the same block (Buckner, 1988; Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950; Glynn, 1986)

Casual social encounters

informal social contact between residents who do not know each other and are not neighbors (Khermouch, 1995; Oldenburg, 1989)

Community participation

interactions about community issues or engagement in community problems and related activities (Cook, J., 1983; Rothenbuhler, Mullen, DeLarell, & Ryul Ryu, 1996; Zaff & Devlin, 1998)

Social support

friendship networks and the development of small groups that foster feelings of caring for each other (Keane, 1991; Pretty, Conroy, Dugay, Fowler, & Williams, 1996; Schwirian & Schwirian, 1993).

Social networkSocial network

Definition Social network is “a specific

set of linkages among a defined set of persons, with the additional property that the characteristics of these linkages as a whole may be used to interpret the social behaviour of the persons involved"

(Mitchell 1969).

Social network analysisSocial network analysis (Bridge G. 2002)

Social network analysis looks at:

• the overall structure of ties

• the content of transactions regardless of spatial scale.

Networks can be studied by two approaches:

• Sociocentric

This approach infers the behaviour of individuals by their position in the overall network. Often using large-scale surveys to get an understanding of the overall structure of a network, in which individuals appear as nodes.

• Egocentric

This approach to network analysis follows networks ties from individual respondents to their social contacts. It is the egocentric approach that characterises most of the implicit or explicit use of network analysis in neighbourhood research. Often involving quantitative surveys or in-depth qualitative analysis of life's history and experiential qualities of network types.

Relationship between Relationship between neighbourhoods and networksneighbourhoods and networks

(Bridge G. 2002)

Two points of view:

Neighbourhood fosters the development of social networks through interaction in local public space. network study support the assertion of the importance of location and neighbourhood (Fischer 1982).

Wellman's research supports the "community liberated" arguments in which community networks are liberated from neighbourhood. Since local ties make up only a small minority of people's active social networks the neighbourhood is not very important in terms of social networks. "Personal community networks are rarely neighbourhood solidarities" (Wellman 1979).

Conclusion

How to increase social network and social activity in the neighbourhood:

By improving the common areas between the

houses to afford social activities in neighbourhoods

(Cooper Marcus and Sarkissian, 1986).

By planning well outdoor spaces to facilitate residents’ daily informal contacts and appropriate space to interact (Festinger et al., 1950).

Any suggestion?

Any questions?