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Neighbourhoods and public service boundaries in the city: a geographical analysis
Abstract
Recent trends towards local democracy and increased citizen-participation in the process of urban government and management would clearly be aided if the boundaries of neighbourhoods and administrative, political and service areas were coincident. This paper seeks evidence for such correspondence, based on an empirical investigation in Glasgow, and concludes that a reformulation of polling districts offers the greatest potential for approaching this objective.
... Lee's neighborhood perception study was soon followed by a plethora of replicate studies such as Henry and Cox (1970), Sanoff (1970), S. A. Lee (1972), Zannaras (1976), Pacione (1982), all of which supported the conclusion that perceived neighborhood maps can be drawn successfully. ...
... There were already several other studies that compared resident-drawn neighborhood maps with census boundaries (Coulton, C. J., et al. 2001) or public service area maps (Pacione, M. 1982). Pacione (1982) compared resident-drawn boundaries with several public service area boundaries and concluded that most administrative service areas are much different than resident maps and that polling district boundaries may more closely reflect neighborhood boundaries that residents actually perceive. ...
... For example, it was argued that both official political units and standard planning units are too large to be congruent with subjective boundaries (Rapaport, 1977), and that very rarely do official political boundaries coincide with people's home areas or neighborhoods based on social or physical characteristics and boundaries (Royal commission on local government, 1969). Then, through those arguments and his own study, Pacione (1982) added to the argument by concluding that neighborhoods in the city are much smaller than most formal subdivisions. ...
... frequently than district or regional green spaces (VDSE, 2002). Neighbourhoods are considered a meaningful territorial element of urban life for many people and a planning ideal in many parts of the world (Lee, 1968;Pacione, 1982;Martin, 1998). A neighbourhood should provide a number of green areas that serve several uses; to ensure all inhabitants have accessible neighbourhood green areas within a specific distance (800 m, 1200 m, or 1600 m, etc.); and to ensure a walking network links the green space to the broader green space network -as the network of green spaces may form the main component of travel through a neighbourhood (Lee, 1968;Pacione, 1982;Martin, 1998). ...
... Neighbourhoods are considered a meaningful territorial element of urban life for many people and a planning ideal in many parts of the world (Lee, 1968;Pacione, 1982;Martin, 1998). A neighbourhood should provide a number of green areas that serve several uses; to ensure all inhabitants have accessible neighbourhood green areas within a specific distance (800 m, 1200 m, or 1600 m, etc.); and to ensure a walking network links the green space to the broader green space network -as the network of green spaces may form the main component of travel through a neighbourhood (Lee, 1968;Pacione, 1982;Martin, 1998). ...
Urban green areas are open spaces in urban areas that are mainly covered by vegetation. They can be public or private urban green spaces that include parks, community gardens, forests, and nature reserves. Parks are an important component of urban quality of life if they are well designed and accessible. Accessible parks contribute to physical activity among urban residents. Therefore, the objective of the study was to identify the most significant main accessibility factors that discourage the use of public urban green areas, and examine the extent to which they influence the use of green areas in residential areas of the city of Erbil. This study was conducted in 2017 and 2020 to measure the accessibility of green spaces using network analysis with GIS for Erbil city. The present study represents the first known investigation regarding the accessibility of public green spaces within the city of Erbil. The results show that for community parks, 68% of the population has access with a travel time of 5 minutes, 99% of the population has access with a travel time of 10 minutes, and 100% of the population has access with a travel time of 15 minutes. For district parks, 70% of the population had access with 5 minute drive time. With 10-minute drive time, 96% of the population had access and 100% of the population had access with 15-minute drive time. For neighborhood parks, the results show that 43% of the population had access with 5-minute walk and, 71% of the population had access with 10-minute walk. At 15-minute walk time, 80% of Erbil residents had access to neighborhood parks. Mini parks were accessed by 22% of the population with a 5 minute walk and they were accessed by 52% of the population with a 10 minute walk. With a 15 minute walk, mini parks were accessible to 70% of the population.
... Proximity to public services contributes to residents' well-being by increasing opportunities, raising the value of residences, and saving on travel expenses that could be spent on other consumptions (Pacione, 1982). ...
Cities defined by population size, heterogeneity, and dynamic change face historical and contemporary
inequalities. The United Development Goals underline the urgency of addressing urban inequality, which
has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban open and green spaces emerge as important
elements for social well-being and affect social, cultural, and psychological aspects. Despite their
importance, inequalities in the distribution, quantity, and function of these areas persist. Standards
advocating a minimum of 9 m2 of green area per person and accessibility become an important component.
However, global data reveals that distribution is inadequate. Only 37.8% of neighborhoods in the city are
conveniently located near open public spaces.
This study examines the distribution, size, and accessibility of urban green spaces, focusing on Isparta.
Unequal distributions were detected in terms of the area covered by green spaces in the neighborhoods,
their accessibility, and green spaces per capita. The findings reveal the need for measures to correct urban
inequality in planning, design, and management policies, which will contribute to the creation of sustainable
and livable cities.
Keywords
Urban green spaces; Inequality; Neighborhood; Distribution of the services; Sustainable cities.
Sharp socioeconomic differences between adjacent neighborhoods run counter to Tobler's first law (TFL) of geography and call into question the blanket application of smoothing techniques designed to handle spatial autocorrelation. In a recent project, large socioeconomic differences between adjacent neighborhoods were observed coinciding with physical features at the neighborhood boundary such as rivers, parks, railroads, and highways. Literature on urban form suggests mechanisms by which these features might create or maintain socioeconomic differences. We therefore test whether the presence of physical features on neighborhood boundaries is associated with greater socioeconomic disparity between the neighborhoods and whether the types of features less easily crossed are more strongly associated. The study area was the city of Glasgow, Scotland. We used vector data to determine which of N = 1,914 neighborhood boundaries coincided with physical features, a well-validated measure of multiple deprivation to assess differences in socioeconomic character across these boundaries, and linear regression to assess associations. The presence of physical features was weakly associated with greater socioeconomic difference across neighborhood boundaries (B = 0.193, p = 0.006). Water (rivers/canals; B = 0.378, p = 0.005) and open spaces (B = 0.283, p = 0.016) were most strongly associated. The presence of physical features, however, was neither necessary nor sufficient for large interneighborhood differences in socioeconomic character. We thus confirm that TFL is not infallible and suggest that spatial analysts need to be concerned about the blanket application of spatial smoothing. Physical features do not hold influence of sufficient size or consistency to guide when and when not to smooth values in spatial analysis, however.
Contains approximately 550 references arranged alphabetically by author under the headings: regional and general; geomorphology and physical geography; biogeography, climatology and hydrology; economic geography (rural and general); social geography; resource management and conservation; planning studies; historical geography; and cartography and remote sensing. -B.Walls
The principle of public participation in decision-making by urban neighbourhood groups has been generally accepted by policy makers in the USA and Western Europe. In practice, however, the extent of public participation ranges from situations in which the concept has been actively incorporated into the urban policy and planning process to those in which planners and decision-makers pay only lip-service to the ideal. This paper examines recent evidence from Britain and North America and addresses the question of the extent to which residents can influence the character of their neighbourhoods. A range of possible strategies for public participation is reviewed, and an improved neighbourhood council model suggested as the most realistic means of achieving the goal of greater public participation in the process of neighbourhood change.
Because of the ready availability of various data at residence level, census tracts have been the spatial units most commonly
selected. In some cases, municipally defined service districts have also been selected, and they are, in fact, only the aggregates
of several neighboring census tracts. The problem encountered in the current study is that Census-based Neighborhoods such
as census tracts and the aggregations of census tracts frequently do not correspond with commonly recognized neighborhoods
experienced informally in daily life. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Resident-perceived
Neighborhood Boundaries (as the alternative unit of analysis to conventionally-used Census-based Neighborhood Units) on the
accessibility to public parks based on equity consideration. The result indicates that when Resident-perceived Neighborhood
Boundaries are adopted, there is no significant change the equity of accessibility to public park distribution among neighborhoods
of different social strata.
Health and social service administrators are increasingly realising the importance of adopting a community or neighbourhood scale for the organisation and delivery of many different services. The concept of neighbourhood is an elusive one, yet it has been used for a number of planning purposes. This paper reviews the nature and utility of neighbourhoods and demonstrates the variety of territorial units used by different statutory agencies. The results of an empirical exercise in North Staffordshire are reported as an example of the practical issues involved. Neighbourhoods are identified with a view to being used for data collection, the delivery of health care services and the possible implementation of health forums.
With reference to a typical metropolitan village the research identifies two major community groups along a number of social and behavioural dimensions and delimits the territorial extent of each within the village space. Inter-group differences in life-style are found to be related to the residents' assessments of their individual quality of life. A structural model of life satisfaction is employed to determine the actual components of a good life for each of the communities in the settlement. Finally, the practical merits of a subjective viewpoint for social planning are demonstrated.
The morphology of cognitive maps is a neglected aspect of behavioural geography. This study provides a methodology for identifying the discrepancies in cognitive maps of any geographical area, isolates the main perceptual distortions in a set of mental maps of Great Britain and attempts to explain these errors in the context of the cognitive-behavioural process. The key role of information in image formation is examined in depth and four major factors found to affect the information basis of cognitive maps.
Physical-economic models of neighborhood change, popularly used by neighborhood planners, are beginning to give way to more politically oriented models. The experience of Pennsylvania's Neighborhood Preservation Support System prototype projects provides evidence of this shift. Such models do not call for blind community control, but for facili tating the development of neighborhood political capacities.
Urban neighbourhood councils, neither statutorily established nor widely initiated in England, are seen to possess a number of advantages over existing forms of representative participation in relation to the equitable distribution of resources. In Portsmouth a community area perception survey and principal components analysis of census data were undertaken to produce synthesised ‘best fit’ social sub-areas upon which to base neighbourhood councils. These areas were then analysed in terms of their relevance and appropriateness, terms specifically defined, along four scale dimensions. An original contention that for maximum effectiveness neighbourhood councils should be established to cover all urban residential areas was confounded by the manifest irrelevance of the neighbourhood council concept in certain socio-spatial contexts.
Survey research data permit examination of two models of community attachment in mass society. The first model, derived from the work of Toennies and Wirth, treats increasing population size and density as key independent variables influencing local community attachment. An alternative model derived from the work of W. I. Thomas, Park and Burgess, focuses on length of residence as the primary independent variable. The alternative approach views the local community as a complex system of friendship, kinship, and associational networks into which new generations and new residents are assimilated while the community passes through its own life-cycle. Goodman's modified multiple regression analysis provides consistent support for the alternative model, while little empirical support is found for the Toennies-Wirth model.
We propose a network analytic approach to the community question in order to separate the study of communities from the study of neighborhoods. Three arguments about the community question-that "community" has been "lost," "saved," or "liberated"-are reviewed for their development, network depictions, imagery, policy implications, and current status. The lost argument contends that communal ties have become attenuated in industrial bureaucratic societies; the saved argument contends that neighborhood communities remain as important sources of sociability, support and mediation with formal institutions; the liberated argument maintains that while communal ties still flourish, they have dispersed beyond the neighborhood and are no longer clustered in solidary communities. Our review finds that both the saved and liberated arguments proposed viable network patterns under appropriate conditions, for social systems as well as individuals.
Pacione M. (1976) Shape and structure in cognitive maps of Great Britain, Reg. Studies 10, 275--283. Cognitive maps comprehensively influence man's spatial behaviour yet the nature of these constructs is largely unknown. Previous studies have depicted the revealed cognitive maps of different geographic spaces but little attention has been given to their structure. The present study analyses the shape of cognitive maps at the national scale and identifies the basic elements underlying their formation.
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