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Housing, Neighbourhood Renewal and Social Capital: The Case of Registered Social Landlords in Scotland
Abstract
Urban policy in several European countries is characterized by an increasing emphasis on neighbourhoods as the site for targeted partnership intervention within new forms of multi-level and multi-actor governance. Community processes within distressed neighbourhoods, based on concepts of social capital, are increasingly identified as both the cause of neighbourhood decline and offering mechanisms for achieving social inclusion and social cohesion. Social housing organizations are given a central role within these new forms of governance. This paper utilises a study of registered social landlords (RSLs) in Scotland to explore the role and impact of housing organizations in developing social capital in deprived communities. It identifies a range of mechanisms through which RSLs contribute to social capital and community development, but argues that the limitations and ambiguities of these processes reflect wider problems in the conceptualisation of both social capital and neighbourhood renewal as mechanisms for achieving social inclusion and social cohesion in current European urban policy.
... Urban renewal not only has shaped neighborhood residents' physical environments while simultaneously reconstructing residents' social capital and change residential satisfaction. Although the issues of social capital and neighborhood satisfaction under urban renewal have received much attention in the literature (Flint & Kearns, 2006;Forouhar & Hasankhani, 2018;Zhang & Lu, 2016), a line of inquiry that deserves further exploration is the dynamics of social capital and residential satisfaction have been comparatively overlooked (Goudarzi et al., 2016). Most of the previous related research has been based on cross-sectional data. ...
... The first domain is social networks, which are measured by individuals' social connectedness within their residential neighborhood and beyond (Bian, 2019;Giuffre, 2013;Yanjie, 1994). Secondly, the norms of reciprocity and trust have been discerned as prominent consequences of urban development (Flint & Kearns, 2006;Huang, 2019;Wang et al., 2016). The third domain, namely community engagement, has been measured on both attitudinal and behavioral dimensions (Hindhede, 2016;Morrison & Xian, 2016a, 2016b. ...
... DNA positively influence DSCUR. Dekker, 2007;Flint & Kearns, 2006;Forrest & Kearns, 2001;Goudarzi et al., 2016;Greenbaum, 2008;Hibbitt et al., 2001;Hindhede, 2016;Lai et al., 2018;Lu & Peng, 2019;Nguyen, 2010;Zhai & Ng, 2013) The ingredients and outcomes of community participation and social activities and as an incubator for reciprocity and trust (Putnam, 2000). ...
... Co-operative housing initiatives often fill the gap left by the withdrawal of the state, not only in affordable housing provision but also in urban development, which increasingly involves them in processes of external societal governance, such as urban renewal (Flint and Kearns 2006). The current political interest in co-operative housing has been partly sparked by the nature of its organisational governance model, which is said to have positive implications for sustainable urban development. ...
... Research has explored the role of co-operative forms of housing as a catalyst for community involvement in urban governance (e.g. Flint and Kearns 2006). However, co-operative housing has remained a small sector, accounting for less than 1% of housing in England. ...
... Housing organisations are not only able to institutionalise resident networks, but can also link them to the wider institutional environment (cf. Table 1) to create benefits for individual residents, local communities and the local organisation (Hibbett et al. 2001;Flint and Kearns 2006;Beetz 2008). As discussed, the analysis of community-led housing governance cannot be reduced to the organisational sphere alone. ...
Bringing real localism into practice through co-operative housing governance: The role and prospects for community-led housing in England
William Plowden Fellowship Report
by Richard Lang and David Mullins
The overall aim of this fellowship project was to explore the potential that co-operative housing governance offers for effective localism and sustainable community building. The empirical results outlined in this report are based on interviews with housing experts as well as stakeholders and representatives of community-led and co-operative housing in England and Wales between April and June 2013. Furthermore, case studies of innovative community-led projects in the English West Midlands have been undertaken in order to take an in-depth look at localism practice “on the ground”.
The report lays down a number of challenges for co-operative and community-led housing models as well as for the role of housing associations in supporting real localism. First, the study results show that the 2010-15 Coalition Government’s localism agenda did not result in substantial reforms to promote real localism in social housing. While new funding streams, such as the Empty Homes Community Grants Programme (EHCGP) and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) community-led stream were important, they were not sufficient in themselves to create a more attractive environment for community-led initiatives. Nevertheless, on a discursive level, the Coalition Government did give some legitimacy to ideas of mutualism and community self-help as part of its promotion of “localism” and “big society” in the context of welfare retrenchment. On the other hand, it did not stimulate transformation of mainstream housing in England into a more community-led model.
Secondly, the report deepens our understanding of the emergence and evolution of different community-led housing fields in England. Although these sprang out of different social movements, the study highlights their common grounding in principles of co-operative governance. Nevertheless, the identity of newer community-led models, particularly community land trusts (CLT), differs from traditional co-operative housing as it involves a wider range of residents in local development issues rather than being confined to the actual residents of a specific housing scheme. The results further suggest that an integration of the innovative CLT model with traditional co-operative governance elements could complement the recently introduced community rights with necessary participatory governance structures on the local level.
Thirdly, the research has shown that external support mechanisms play a crucial role in the development of different community-led models. This is due to specific challenges community-led initiatives are facing in order to ensure long-term building activity, such as sustainable funding and financing, or management and governance competence among residents. For most community-led initiatives, this can stimulate engagement in partnerships with housing associations and local authorities. The study results suggest that it is crucial that such external partners have a real commitment to supporting local community leadership.
Finally, the report points to the importance of international comparative research in identifying similar dilemmas but different mechanisms to resolve partnership and external facilitation challenges. In this respect, the case of Vienna, Austria, can be seen as an example where public promotion and developer competitions at the local site level help to institutionalise co-operative housing projects. However, strong state promotion and central umbrella bodies also favour organisational isomorphism which is counterproductive to the co-operative idea of local experimentation with organisational structures to meet housing needs. The lesson for the English community-led housing sector could thus be to support organisational diversity on the local level and to retain multiple umbrella bodies while seeking stronger alliances within the broader movement.
Further research is now planned to build on this platform, to explore any differences of approach from the incoming Conservative single-party government, to explore the impact and outcomes of different forms of governance and organisation on social capital, both vertical and horizontal. The emergence and evolution of community-led fields in England will be analysed to consider the role of actors in constructing social fields during an uncertain period.
Please cite as:
Lang, R., Mullins, D. (2015). Bringing real localism into practice through co-operative housing governance. The role and prospects for community-led housing in England. Housing and Communities Research Group WP1-2015. University of Birmingham. Available at http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/IASS/housing/2015/working-paper-series/HCR-WP-1-2015.pdf
... As this paper stresses the potential of linking social capital as an innovative resource for empowering residents, the findings of our empirical study will be analyzed in a multi-level context. Housing organizations are not only able to institutionalize resident networks, but can also link them to the wider institutional environment to create benefits for the individual residents and local communities (Hibbett et al., 2001;Flint & Kearns, 2006). Thus, linking social capital is related to "the capacity of individuals and communities to leverage resources, ideas, and information from formal institutions beyond the immediate community radius" (OECD, 2001: 42). ...
... The results and lessons learned from our case study, thus contribute to existing literature in the following ways: First, presenting a multi-scalar concept of linking social capital, we provided a contextualization of earlier social capital approaches developed in the field of housing and urban governance (for example Middleton et al,. 2005;Flint &Kearns, 2006). We also contribute to the discussion on the social capital of spatial hierarchies by focusing on the vertical linkages that connect actors on different spatial levels and positions in the spatial hierarchy (Westlund et al., 2010). ...
... In this respect, recurring deregulation efforts on European housing markets have been justified with the stimulation of organizational autonomy, such as in Sweden (Kemeny et al., 2005), and also connected to a stronger agency role to be played by cooperative housing providers in new urban governance processes (e.g. Flint & Kearns, 2006, for the UK). However, linking social capital cannot just be leveraged by devoting a stronger role to individual housing providers in neighbourhood governance and at the same time abolishing the public promotion model, as has been done in Germany (König, 2004). ...
The article examines the role of housing cooperatives for social cohesion in the city by introducing linking social capital which grasps the vertical dimension of social capital. Housing cooperatives represent a crucial intermediate level between residents and urban housing policy, thus providing opportunity structures for bottom-linked citizen participation. Drawing on the case of Vienna, a large-scale household survey and interviews with key informants provide empirical evidence on the importance of a form of social capital which links actors at different levels in the spatial hierarchy: residents, housing managers and political decision-makers. The findings add to our understanding of the opportunities and problems with resident participation in a policy field structured by multi-level governance. Our two-level analysis shows that the dominant model of governance, top-down as well as neoliberal, has structurally limited the room for participatory practices in cooperative housing. Nevertheless, we argue that professional housing cooperatives have a potential to give residents a voice beyond the neighbourhood. Their strong linkages with public decision-makers at different scales can help leverage ideas and resources of residents.
... Concerns about declining levels of trust, contested multiculturality, fragmented social networks and social polarisation in urban areas are echoed across Europe (Priemus 2004). As it is identified as both the cause of neighbourhood decline and offering mechanisms for achieving social inclusion, the concept of social capital has received increasing attention in recent years from both academics and policy actors in the field of urban renewal (Flint/Kearns 2006;Middelton et al. 2005;Murie/Musterd 2004). Based on a collective and consensus view of society (Putnam 2000;1993), it makes room for rather simple solutions to manage the complex phenomenon of social diversity, particularly when assuming a causal relationship between social networks and the social and economic well-being of entire communities (OECD 2001;Mohan/Stokke 2000). ...
... Second, while bridging social capital should be the glue for the idealised society that policy makers would like to achieve, social capital mostly connects residents from similar social and ethnic backgrounds within and across neighbourhoods (Morrison 2003;Forrest/Kearns 2001). Finally, social capital accumulation is connected to other forms of capital (e.g. economic or cultural capital), pointing to the deeply-rooted, structural causes for social exclusion which cannot be tackled at the neighbourhood level alone (Flint/Kearns 2006;Bourdieu 1983Bourdieu /1986. Against this problem background, the paper strives to answer the following research question: How can social capital be conceptualised in the context of housing and neighbourhood management? ...
... Nevertheless, as a result of its widespread use in various disciplines and practical fields, social capital has become a rather heuristic concept, generating controversy about its definition, conceptualisation and measurement (Lin and Erickson 2008;Middelton et al. 2005;Lin 1999): Second, considering the social capital of neighbourhoods as the basis for policy action to foster social cohesion detracts from the deeply rooted structural causes of social exclusion (Flint/Kearns 2006). In this respect, Bourdieu (1983Bourdieu ( /1986 has highlighted the connection between social capital and other forms of capital (economic, cultural, and symbolic). ...
This paper provides a systematic literature overview of existing research on social capital in relation to housing and neighbourhood management. A growing body of research documents the significance of social capital for the social cohesion and well-being of neighbourhoods. Thus, in recent years, social capital has become a key concept for both, practitioners and academics dealing with issues of housing and neighbourhood management. However, as a result of its widespread use, social capital has also developed into a rather heuristic concept, generating controversy about its conceptualisation and measurement. Consequently, published articles show a high level of heterogeneity in their social capital approaches and thus, raise the demand for a review of current research in housing and neighbourhood management. Applying the method of systematic literature review, this article first identifies different schools of social capital research in the current research on housing and neighbourhood management. In a second step, theoretical as well as empirical contributions, within these research streams, are analysed and evaluated with regard to content and methodology. Finally, the paper aims to identify possible benefits and pitfalls of the different conceptualisations of social capital when studying housing areas and drawing implications for their management. Our findings highlight a lack of consensus on what social capital is, and how it should be defined in the context of housing and neighbourhood management. From the review, it is evident that researchers primarily focus on solidarity norms and patterns of social and political participation on the neighbourhood level, thus, treating social capital as a collective asset. However, extending the concept from its theoretical roots in social networks can lead to major conceptualisation and measurement problems. Thus, without clarifying the relationship between variables on the individual and collective level, the usefulness of social capital as an analytical concept for the study of housing areas is likely to be limited.
... Nevertheless, recent empirical research has come to contradictory results about the role of housing cooperatives as community builders in urban contexts (Schulte-Eckel, 2009;Flint and Kearns, 2006;König, 2004). Flint and Kearns (2006) suggest that contextualised research approaches are needed to deliver a more realistic picture of the capacity of third sector housing organisations. ...
... Nevertheless, recent empirical research has come to contradictory results about the role of housing cooperatives as community builders in urban contexts (Schulte-Eckel, 2009;Flint and Kearns, 2006;König, 2004). Flint and Kearns (2006) suggest that contextualised research approaches are needed to deliver a more realistic picture of the capacity of third sector housing organisations. They point to the importance of embedding housing organisations in their respective institutional context in order to enhance our understanding of their potential for fostering social cohesion. ...
... According to Kearns (2001: 2130) "it is these residentially based networks which perform an important function in the routines of everyday life and these routines are arguably the basic buildingblocks of social cohesion -through them we learn tolerance, cooperation and acquire a sense of social order and belonging."Against this background, the concept of social capital has emerged as a key notion in both the policy and the academic discourse on social cohesion (Flint and Kearns, 2006;Mayer, 2003;Forrest and Kearns, 2001). ...
Drawing on the case of Vienna, the article examines the role of third sector housing for social cohesion in the city. With the joint examination of an organisational and an institutional level of housing governance, the authors apply an interdisciplinary, multi-level research approach which aims at contributing to a comprehensive understanding of social cohesion as a contextualised phenomenon which requires place-based as well as structural (multi-level) solutions. Using a large-scale household survey and interviews with key informants, the analysis shows an ambiguous role housing cooperatives play for social cohesion: With the practice of “theme-oriented housing estates”, non-profit housing returns to the traditional cooperative principle of Gemeinschaft. However, community cooperatives rather promote homogenous membership and thus, encompass the danger to establish cohesive islands that are cut off from the rest of the city. Furthermore, given the solidarity-based housing regime of Vienna, fostering bonding social capital on the neighbourhood level, might anyway just be an additional safeguarding mechanism for social cohesion. More important is the direct link between the micro-level of residents and the macro-level of urban housing policy. In this respect, cooperative housing represents a crucial intermediate level that strengthens the linking social capital of residents and provides opportunity structures for citizen participation. However, the increasing adoption of a corporate management orientation leads to a hollowing out of the cooperative principle of democratic member participation, reducing it to an informal and non-binding substitute. Thus, it is in the responsibility of both managements and residents to revitalise the existing democratic governance structures of cooperative housing before they will be completely dismantled by market liberalization and privatization. In contrast to other European cities, third sector housing in Vienna has the potential to give residents a voice beyond the neighbourhood and the field of housing.
... Concurrently, it has been demonstrated that the changes in interpersonal communication brought by the residential environment's alterations also have an impact on residential satisfaction (31,44). Additionally, some scholars have studied issues related to social capital factors and residential satisfaction in consideration of urban renewal (53). Therefore, in addition to the above related factors, economic and urban development factors are also included in the satisfaction evaluation (54). ...
... Unfamiliar environments and people will have an impact on residential satisfaction (31,44). The results of the study found that more harmonious interpersonal communication would positively promote residential satisfaction in YOD, which confirms the previous research (53). Although the residential satisfaction of the YND is not significantly affected by interpersonal communication, these results also support evidence from previous urban research results (59). ...
Introduction
The contradiction among population, economy and urbanization has gradually intensified, and the Mountain Excavation and City Construction (MECC) project is one of the special solutions. Nevertheless, there are few comparative studies on the project index studies and effect of MECC projects on residential satisfaction. To remedy this deficiency, this study base on the Yan’an new district (YND) reconstruction project, attempting to analyze the specific influencing factors prerelocation and post-relocation from the perspective of residential satisfaction.
Methods
After conducting reliability and validity analysis on each dimension, multiple linear regression and paired t-test were used to analyze and compare the questionnaire data.
Results
The results show that the residential satisfaction index of the YND is indeed higher than that of the Yan’an old district (YOD). Concurrently, the decisive factors of residential satisfaction are also different. Specifically, the interpersonal communication, supporting facilities, community environment and economic income are significant in the YOD, but only the aspect of supporting facilities is negative significant. The supporting facilities, community environment, economic income and urban development are all positive significant in the YND. The satisfaction factors of middle-aged people in YOD and YND have the most significant differences, and the significance of each dimension is different.
Discussion
The research results of this study provide a comparative perspective at the micro-level for evaluating China’s urban construction, and it supplies specific directions for future urban development and the improvement of old cities through the new residential satisfaction index.
... The built environment was identified as one of the key and effective influencing factors to realize this end. The significance of neighborhoods in creation of social capital and interactions has been highlighted by several studies (Forrest and Kearns, 2001;Humphreys,2007;Flint and Kearns, 2006). It is shown that the trust and the attachments created by the neighborhoods contribute to the actions of participation (Dekker, 2007). ...
... Such bonding social capital formations are mainly determined by the living environment. Flint and Kearns (2006) explain the neighborhoods of the disadvantaged as one of the main causes for low level of bridging social capital. Curley (2005) argues that heterogeneous neighborhoods possess not only greater human capital but also high level of social capital. ...
... The nature and scope of housing management have been often contested between a business-like orientation, which focuses on economic efficiency and sustainability goals, and a social welfare-oriented approach, that is providing care and support for vulnerable tenants (Franklin and Clapham 1997). This tension originates from the dual identity of social housing organizations as both private enterprises and promoters of social welfare (Flint and Kearns 2006). Despite the philanthropic motives and commitments to social reform that underlined the pioneering social welfare approaches to housing management since the 19th century, practices like surveillance and patrolling were strongly permeated by social control aims that were meant to secure the social reproduction of existing power relations of industrial capitalism (Damer 2000). ...
... Building on a wide, and mainly UK-based, literature (Damer 2000;Flint 2003Flint , 2004Flint , 2006Flint and Kearns 2006;Franklin and Clapham 1997;Haworth and Manzi 1999;Manzi 2010;Walker 2000) on social housing management and tenant responsibilisation, this paper contributed to expand such knowledge by providing new evidence from different national and local social housing contexts, i.e. the Netherlands and Amsterdam, Italy and Milan. In both contexts, emerging housing management strategies aim to increase tenants' responsibilisation but with different focus and normative premises. ...
The nature of housing management has often been contested between two main orientations, business-like (i.e. economic efficiency) and social welfare (i.e. social support), reflecting the dual identity of social housing providers, as both private enterprises and welfare promoters. Research shows that housing management is particularly susceptible to transformations in the broader social housing sector. Considering the last two decades, the demand for social housing has increased across Western Europe, involving different social categories, e.g. low-middle income and, more recently, asylum seekers. On the supply side, housing providers have become keener to involve residents in delivering and managing housing-related services. This paper explores how innovative management strategies are emerging in the context of broader changes in social rented sectors and welfare policies in countries characterised by different typologies of housing systems, Italy and the Netherlands. By means of case studies and semi-structured interviews, this paper scrutinizes specific management approaches, i.e. Integrated Social Management and self-management, in two recent social housing projects in Milan and Amsterdam, which target socially mixed tenants, i.e. status-holders, low-income and young locals. Despite several differences, management approaches in both cases aim to increase tenants’ responsibilisation but with different focus: towards the community, i.e. social integration of vulnerable tenants in the housing project (Dutch case), and towards individual dwellings, i.e. boosting individuals’ self-agency in relation to the maintenance of properties (Italian case). This paper discusses how distinct, and sometimes normative, premises underlying tenants participation in housing management shape specific relationships between residents and housing providers.
... In several European countries, governments have established neighbourhood-based initiatives to renew distressed areas on a foundation of self-governance and broad participation (Flint & Kearns, 2006). Bringing disparate groups together in decision-making builds trust and social capital. ...
... Registered social landlords (RSLs) are housing associations and co-ops that provide lodgings to vulnerable people, such as the homeless, those with mental or physical disabilities, as well as asylum seekers and refugees. In neighbourhoods where there is a great deal of social housing, RSLs mediate resident disputes and act as a catalyst for resident involvement in improving dwellings and upgrading community environments (Flint & Kearns, 2006). Social housing and co-ops tend to be most effective when residents have access to transit, services, and shops, which helps to alleviate social exclusion (Thériault et al., 2010). ...
In promoting healthier built environments, attention worldwide has focused largely on streetscapes and recreational spaces, with less regard given to housing form, in particular to the health effects of communal housing. Research demonstrates that communal housing models, such as cohousing and co-operative housing, promote social inclusion, and increase the perceived well-being and mental and physical health of residents, particularly of seniors. In Canada, relative to other countries, there is a paucity of evidence for the health effects of co-operatives and cohousing. Historically, some Indigenous communities constructed longhouses, connected dwellings situated around common areas, a form which may still be useful in promoting healthy communities. In this commentary, we suggest that improving access to co-operative and communal housing is an important area for public health involvement.
... If an analysis seeks to treat social cohesion as capable of ''doing'' something, it will often ''treat social capital and social networks as the constitutive element'' (Beauvais & Jenson, 2002: 14). The bulk of the actual policy experiments to promote social capital involve efforts to improve outcomes in poor or disadvantaged neighborhoods or localities, viewed as being the result not only of individual characteristics but also of neighborhood dynamics (Flint & Kearns, 2006). Immigrant communities have been a particular focus. ...
... The OECD has become a locale for promoting the link between institutions, governance, and social cohesion (Flint & Kearns, 2006;Bradford, 2008). This approach to social cohesion is found in work by the Territorial Development Policy Committee (part of the OECD's Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate) Social Cohesion S 1403 S which is a major source (although by no means the only one) for the ''new conventional wisdom.'' ...
... The growth of community housing would provide an opportunity to ''devolve responsibility, engagement and decision making to local residents through tenant participation'' (Flint & Kearns, 2006, p. 36). This is because community housing landlords have the capacity to develop ''a model and platform for wider community participation and empowerment and to provide a catalyst for wider neighbourhood renewal activities'' (Flint & Kearns, 2006, p. 36). However, the future viability of community housing will depend upon the tenure mix, capacity to leverage capital funding, and their ability to provide an alternative to residualised public housing providers that are primarily focused on disadvantaged groups such as the aged, disabled, and unemployed. ...
... Larger public housing estates make it more difficult for residents to form and maintain external relationships and the feeling of isolation erodes social capital. However, supporters of public housing argue that it may also ''shore up'' trust and social capital in some areas, which would be even lower if public housing was not available (Flint & Kearns, 2006). For example, Mullins and Western (2001) found public housing tenants were more likely than people in other tenures to have a strong sense of ''community'' (p. ...
Addressing the relationship between housing tenure and social disadvantage, this research examines social capital among public tenants in Australia, concentrating on their level of interpersonal trust and confidence in a range of public institutions. Through multivariate analyses of national survey data it also profiles the social and political background of public housing tenants. As expected, public tenants tend to have lower incomes, lower levels of education, and working-class backgrounds, or do not identify with any class location at all. They are less likely to be married or in de facto relationships than people in other housing tenures, but are more likely to identify with the Australian Labor Party than with the Coalition parties. Although public housing tenants have access to secure and affordable housing, they appear to be generally less trusting than private renters or homeowners and exhibit less confidence in government institutions such as the Australian parliament. Public housing tenants express lower levels of interpersonal trust even controlling for a range of social background factors, suggesting that as a form of tenure, public housing in some ways exacerbates the disadvantage of tenants.
... Os Países Baixos não estão sozinhos nessa questão. A (re)construção de laços e conexões sociais e o aumento do capital social são dimensões centrais das políticas de renovações urbanas em muitos outros países europeus, como o Reino Unido, a Dinamarca e a Bélgica (Cole e Etherington, 2005;Flint e Kearns, 2006). ...
... Segundo Flint e Kearns (2006), bairros carentes, provavelmente, não sofrem de falta de engajamento e interação sociais; ao invés disso, seu capital social vinculativo é insufi ciente para gerar ganhos econômicos e sociais mais amplos, atribuídos ao capital social que estabelece pontes como um meio de reduzir os processos de exclusão social. Além disso, os bairros coincidem apenas até certo ponto com redes sociais, que, geralmente, têm um alcance muito maior. ...
This paper deals with the central issue of the synergy between social capital and the revitalisation of urban neighbourhoods. Three research questions will be specified: 1) How can social success or failure of urban neighbourhoods be understood by adopting social capital theories? 2) How could neighbourhood revitalisation be supported by strengthening social capital? 3) What role could not-for-profit housing associations play in this challenge? In light of the management and the revitalisation of urban neighbourhoods social capital can be seen as a crucial notion. We look at recent developments in Dutch urban neighbourhood revitalisation, in particular the recent transition from 'traditional' urban renewal into 'new' urban renewal in the Netherlands. The role of housing associations in the Netherlands is analysed, including the relation between housing associations and new urban renewal. We formulate conclusions and recommendations which go beyond Dutch practice.
... For instance, local governments may consider including more public participation in neighborhood management, which has been proven effective in Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (Loughlin et al., 2004). Additionally, promoting social activities (e.g., festivals and street parties) in neighborhoods before and after relocation can help enhance social networks (Flint and Kearns, 2006). Second, considering the design of public spaces and creating enough opportunities to make friends with neighbors are essential in shaping social networks; thus, physical improvement strategies can be adopted to improve social networking, especially for in-site stayers (the group with the lowest socioeconomic status) by providing extra public spaces (e.g., small community parks and squares) and social facilities (e.g., drop-in cafes and community centers). ...
The process of urban renewal extensively changes residents' physical and social environments and, at the same time, reconstructs their social networks. Although there is a growing interest in analyzing the determinants of social networks, extant research neither accounts for the change in social networks after urban renewal nor considers the various residential groups affected by urban renewal. This work of research aims to examine the impact of urban renewal on social networks within neighborhoods based on three affected residential groups (in-site stayers, nearby stayers, and relocated residents) using data collected from six renewal areas in Chongqing, China. The results show that physical and social environmental changes significantly influence social networks during urban renewal. Socio-demographic factors such as age and education are associated with social network changes. The three affected residential groups identified significant differences in social networks after urban renewal. Nearby stayers experienced the largest increase in their network, while relocated residents experienced the most significant decrease. Social network changes for the same affected residential group also vary based on socioeconomic factors and perceptions of the residential environment. Targeted policy implications are provided for the specific affected residential groups.
... For instance, local governments may consider including more public participation in neighborhood management, which has been proven effective in Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (Loughlin et al., 2004). Additionally, promoting social activities (e.g., festivals and street parties) in neighborhoods before and after relocation can help enhance social networks (Flint and Kearns, 2006). Second, considering the design of public spaces and creating enough opportunities to make friends with neighbors are essential in shaping social networks; thus, physical improvement strategies can be adopted to improve social networking, especially for in-site stayers (the group with the lowest socioeconomic status) by providing extra public spaces (e.g., small community parks and squares) and social facilities (e.g., drop-in cafes and community centers). ...
This study measured the residential satisfaction of residents in six urban renewal projects in Chongqing, China with the aim of determining which social factors should be prioritized during urban renewal. Based on an analysis of 1,086 responses to a questionnaire survey conducted among residents at different stages of the urban renewal process, multilevel linear models were used to examine the determinants of residential satisfaction after urban renewal; model results showed that 49 predictor variables explained 32.29% of residential satisfaction values in the hierarchical regression latent models. Two findings from the empirical analysis are: (1) “Social networks and social protections” represented the strongest predictor of residential satisfaction, followed in order of strength by “social reciprocity and trust,” “community participation and accessibility,” and “sense of community and community cohesion”; and (2) keeping all five social factors balanced is essential for urban renewal projects, since having only one or two strong social factors will not contribute to higher residential satisfaction if the other factors are weak. Urban renewal studies of this kind are essential for monitoring trends in residential satisfaction.
... These features are said to facilitate reciprocal actions and spontaneous cooperation (Putnam et al., 1993). It is argued that local social networks, including both weak and strong ties, bring about the formation of social capital which affords residents with coping mechanisms for poverty, especially in deprived neighbourhoods (Flint & Kearns, 2006). ...
Over the last few decades, the emergence of various social problems within the urban
neighbourhoods of cities has called for further research to consider the role of urban social
sustainability. For example, the decline of face-to-face social interaction and social trust among residents, increased noise, limited mobility, and social conflicts of the housing crisis. Social life in Iraq has been changed due to transformations in both political and economic milieus, and the introduction of technologies to people's lifestyles. These have affected social values and, in turn, contributed to significant changes in the social environment, leading to a continuous reduction in social interaction. Yet, social considerations at different levels are still neglected in Iraq in urban developments. Improving social sustainability requires comprehensive analysis to identify the factors that affect social interaction among residents. Using multiple case studies, this research investigates the influence of factors relevant to social sustainability indicators (SSI), physical characteristics of the built environment (PCBE), and demographic factors (DF) on social interaction. This includes social indices, including neighbouring, social networks, and social relationships among residents in communal spaces within single-family houses neighbourhoods (SFHNs). Additionally, this research identifies the communal spaces used for regular and formal social gatherings in SFHNs in Basra, Iraq.
To achieve this, primary data have been collected from three single-family housing
neighbourhoods in Basra. A range of different qualitative and quantitative techniques is applied systematically. These include semi-structured interviews with experts, to determine the influential factors from a professional perspective and a residents' survey, involving users' daily life activities in communal spaces to identify the influential factors according to users. Also, socio-spatial practices, involving observation and behavioural mapping are used to understand users’ behavioural patterns and to identify the most commonly used communal spaces, and a fieldwork site survey is applied to explain the current situation concerning communal spaces.
The findings demonstrate a number of factors, mostly concerning SSI (the sense of community, privacy, safety and security); PCBE (the provision and location of public utilities, open green spaces, communal spaces that are climate responsive designed, accessibility, maintenance), and DF (gender, education level, employment status and the presence of relatives living within the neighbourhood), have been found to affect social interaction and social indices within the selected case studies. The findings also demonstrate that unintentional communal spaces, such as the space in front of the main entrance of houses, accommodate most of the regular social interactions between residents, while worship facilities, such as mosques and hussainya, offer formal scheduled gatherings in the neighbourhoods. The design implications of these findings call for full consideration of these factors in the design of future sustainable housing neighbourhoods in Basra, with attention given to the design of unintentional communal spaces as actual places of contact among neighbours.
This research contributes to international literature and knowledge and offers much-needed empirical evidence to inform the design of future sustainable SFHNs in Iraq. This is realised through the development of design recommendations based on empirical evidence, noting modifications to existing assumptions about the influential factors on social interaction among residents, and identifying the role of communal spaces in facilitating these interactions. It also contributes to future empirical research on social sustainability and social interaction about the effectiveness of a mixed-methods approach and the refinement of existing indicators and measures.
... Researchers have shown that improving social cohesion through social mix is perceived as a means of strengthening social control, reducing deviant behavior and personal insecurity (Kearns and Mason 2007;Sampson et al. 1997). The implementation of a social mix policy assumes that the middle classes will play an integrating role for the working classes and that the presence of the former in these neighborhoods will generate "social capital" (Flint and Kearns, 2006). However, some observers believe that decision-maker optimism about the effects of social mix is unjustified (Lelévrier 2006), and that implementing it through housing diversification programs will not improve social cohesion, nor local social relations (Bond et al. 2012). ...
Following publication of the Brundtland report in 1987, “sustainable development” has become a widely accepted conceptual framework for urban policy and development, providing context for a considerable literature on planning, architecture and urban design (Williams et al. 2000). Debates pitting against nature preservation against development interests were no longer limited to environmental aspects, but began to incorporate economic and social dimensions (Lele 1991) – based on the notion that “environmental quality and economic development are interdependent, and in the long term, mutually reinforcing” (Dampier 1982). More recently, the focus of sustainability on controlling change and growth has been broadened to accommodate the concept of resilience, or the capacity of systems to adapt to changes and recover from disturbance (Ahern 2011).
... Co-operative housing initiatives often fill the gap left by the withdrawal of the state, not only in affordable housing provision but also in urban development, which increasingly involves them in processes of external societal governance, such as urban renewal. 12 The current political interest in co-operative housing has been partly sparked by the nature of its organisational governance model, which is said to have positive implications for sustainable urban development. Positive external effects of co-operative governance practice are mainly seen in the stabilisation and even increasing attractiveness of neighbourhoods through long-term investments in social relationships among residents, or in the physical quality of their housing stocks. ...
The Coalition Government’s ‘Big Society’ and localism agendas sought to devolve power from government to communities, with the aim of giving local people more control over local services. This research examines the prospects for the community-led housing sector arising from these policies, as well as exploring the potential that co-operative governance offers for effective localism and sustainable community building.
... De nombreux travaux ont analysé les présupposés de l'action publique selon lesquels la proximité spatiale engendrerait par elle-même un rapprochement des pratiques et des comportements, et une adhésion à des normes communes (Kearns, Forrest, 2000). La mixité sociale est alors perçue comme un moyen de réduire les comportements déviants et l'insécurité par un contrôle social accru (Kearns, Mason, 2007), valorisant le rôle de modèle intégrateur des classes moyennes ou supérieures vis-à-vis des classes populaires (Flint, Kearns, 2006). ...
La mixite sociale est l’un des principes fondamentaux des quartiers durables francais. Cet objectif de mixite s’appuie sur des enjeux et presupposes specifiques, tant en termes de composition sociale qu’en termes de projection des modes d’habiter. Cet article s’attache a analyser la maniere dont la mixite sociale est concue puis realisee dans ces quartiers, les formes de resistance par les usagers et les representations des habitants. Au travers de l’analyse de deux exemples de quartiers francais a Rennes et Auxerre, le propos met en evidence les presupposes de mise en oeuvre de la mixite sociale dans les projets de quartiers durables. Au-dela des arguments traditionnellement mobilises, les porteurs de projets mettent de l’avant l’accessibilite de ces quartiers, mais aussi la volonte de limiter l’etalement urbain, en proposant aux familles des alternatives au pavillon. Ces ambitions sont mises en tension avec la necessite de compenser les surcouts des constructions ecologiques. Une enquete par entretiens revele certains paradoxes de la mixite sociale dans ces quartiers durables. Dans les deux exemples analyses, la recherche de mixite sociale se heurte a la conception d’un developpement durable appuye sur des normes d’habiter laissant peu de place a la diversite des pratiques des habitants.
... Larger public housing estates can make it more difficult for residents to form and maintain external relationships and a feeling of isolation will erode social capital. However, public housing can 'shore up' confidence and social capital in some areas, which suggests that levels of trust would be even lower if public housing was not available (Flint and Kearns, 2006: 41). Kearns and Parkinson (2001) claim that residents in disadvantaged communities often engage in high levels of mutually supportive behaviour and tend to develop bonding social capital, due in part to the discrimination and exclusion they experience outside their community. ...
This paper addresses the relationship between public housing tenure and social disadvantage. The research examines social capital levels among public tenants in Australia, concentrating on their level of interpersonal trust and confidence in a range of public institutions. Through multivariate analyses of national survey data it also profiles the social and political background of public housing tenants. Although public housing tenants have access to secure and affordable housing, they appear to be less trusting and 'happy' than private renters or homeowners, and exhibit less confidence in some institutions such as the Australian parliament, universities and the ABC (the Australian public television broadcaster). These results probably reflect the residualised nature of public housing in Australia and indicate that public tenants are likely to be 'alienated' from certain aspects of mainstream culture. However, public tenants have higher levels of confidence than homeowners in the Australian defence forces and trade unions. So public housing may 'shore up' confidence and social capital in some areas, and levels of trust would be lower if public housing was not available to disadvantaged citizens.
... The goals are to improve health, 14 safety, economic development, social development and so on (see, for example, Khan and Muir (2006: 8), who partially review the literature). Flint and Kearns (2006) report, for example, on reliance on registered social landlords in Scotland as a mechanism for developing social capital in deprived communities. ...
... One is the growing importance of the concept of social capital in the discourse of urban regeneration. Many policy-makers claim that urban regeneration should not only improve the physical quality of urban neighbourhoods, but also the social well-being of their residents (see for example, Flint and Kearns, 2006;Kearns, 2004;Lelieveldt, 2004;Middleton et al., 2005). Recently, the notion of social capital has been introduced in the political debates on urban regeneration. ...
... Co-operative housing initiatives often fill the gap left by the withdrawal of the state, not only in affordable housing provision but also in urban development, which increasingly involves them in processes of external, societal governance (Flint and Kearns 2006). The current political interest in co-operative housing has been sparked by the nature of its organisational governance model, which is said to have positive implications for sustainable urban development (Beetz 2008). ...
This special issue of IJCM is devoted to current research on co-operative housing. There is a renewed political and academic interest in co-operative organisations as alternative providers of affordable housing in recent years. Although the concept is widespread across the globe and has a long tradition, co-operative housing practice is little-known and is just being rediscovered as an innovative alternative to property rental as a means of coping with the increase in demand for affordable housing following the housing crisis in many countries.
Recent changes in the policy environment for social housing, such as increasing deregulation and liberalisation, have created new opportunities for housing co-operatives but have also redefined their societal role and organisational identity as member-oriented housing providers. This calls for a reconceptualisation of the nature of governance in co-operative housing, similar to the work that has recently been done in governance research on social housing (Mullins et al. 2012) as well as in the research field of non-profit and civil society governance (Steen-Johnson et al. 2011).
... One is the growing importance of the concept of social capital in the discourse of urban regeneration. Many policymakers claim that urban regeneration should not only improve the physical quality of urban neighbourhoods, but also the social well-being of their residents (see e.g. Flint and Kearns, 2006; Kearns, 2004; Lelieveldt, 2004; Middleton et al., 2005). Recently, the notion of social capital has been introduced in the political debates on urban regeneration. ...
In the major Dutch cities, social rented housing in post-war neighbourhoods has been demolished and largely replaced by more expensive owner-occupied and rental housing. Through residential mobility, these measures can trigger substantial population changes. This paper studies residents' social capital in two recently restructured neighbourhoods in the city of Rotterdam. It distinguishes between the stayers, movers and newcomers. In a neighbourhood context, social capital refers to the benefit of cursory interactions, shared norms, trust and collective action of residents. Survey data show that social capital is not only an asset of long-term stayers, but that in particular newcomers are relatively rich in social capital. Factors associated with higher levels of social capital are a higher net income, presence of households with children, stronger place attachment, higher perceived neighbourhood quality, homeownership and single-family dwellings. The expected future length of residence in the area appears of little importance for social capital.
... One of these is the growing importance of the concept of social capital in the discourse of urban regeneration. Many policymakers claim that urban regeneration should not only improve the physical quality of neighbourhoods, but also the social well-being of their residents (Flint & Kearns, 2006;Lelieveldt, 2004;Middleton et al., 2005). Interestingly, policymakers consider social capital both in terms of a problem and a solution. ...
Many Dutch post-war neighbourhoods are subject to intensive urban restructuring. Demolition and new housing construction combined with social and economic programmes should improve the housing stock, liveability and social capital. Currently, it is unknown whether social capital contributes to residential stability and reduces residents' propensity to move. In this paper, social capital levels of stayers, movers and newcomers are studied in two recently restructured neighbourhoods in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Using survey data, social capital is operationalised as benefits of everyday cursory interactions, trust, shared norms and collective action. Logistic regression analysis shows that age, length of residency, employment, income, dwelling satisfaction, dwelling type and perceived neighbourhood quality significantly predict residents' propensity to move. Newcomers are more inclined to move again than stayers and other movers. Social capital is of less importance than suggested by previous research; housing features, satisfaction and neighbourhood perception affect residents' propensity to move much more strongly. The paper concludes with policy implications and suggestions for future research.
... In recent years, it has been argued, the role of cities and the determinants of their competitiveness have changed. Business development in cities is today related to such urban characteristics that are assumed to attract and create not only financial but also human and cultural capital (Florida, 2002), as well as social capital (Flint and Kearns, 2006;Putnam, 2000), i.e. human friendly and experience intensive urban settings. This, it is argued, attracts the socalled creative class (Florida, 2002) and lets the creativity of the city's population loose resulting in creative cities (Cooke and Lazzeretti, 2008). ...
... Remis en cause par l'analyse des premiers peuplements des grands ensembles en France (Chamboredon et Lemaire, 1970), il est à nouveau en débat à travers les approches anglo-saxonnes. Les classes moyennes joueraient un rôle de modèle intégrateur vis-à-vis des classes populaires, leur présence dans ces quartiers garantissant un certain « capital social » (Flint et Kearns, 2006). Même si ces analyses sont l'objet de controverses (Bacqué et Fol, 2006), elles n'en légitiment pas moins des politiques de « déségrégation » de la pauvreté, prenant la forme d'aides financières à la mobilité des pauvres vers des espaces plus mixtes aux États-Unis (Kirszbaum, 2008), d'une limitation législative de l'accès des pauvres aux quartiers pauvres à Rotterdam (Ouwehand et al. 2007) et de la diversification de l'habitat par la rénovation un peu partout. ...
Social Mixing in Urban Renovation: Dispersion or Re-concentration?
Social mixing is a central aim of the programmes of urban renovation launched in France and in Europe at the beginning of this century, housing diversification being the instrument to achieve this. This article, after having reviewed the risks of social mixing within programmes of renovation, which is associated with the patterns of people moving houses, focusses on the paradoxical effects of demolitions and relocations within ten operations within the Paris region. On the one hand – the reverse of the effects of renovation in the 1960s – the tendency is more towards the re-concentration of the poorest families in the
Zus
(fragile urban zones) rather than dispersion while the better-off families are moved to more valued localities within the
Zus
or beyond it. On the other hand, as a result of these relocations and the life styles of the residents, these urban social recompositions tend towards the fragmentation of the old and large housing estates and/or of the “communes” into small homogeneous residential localities but each differentiated one from the other. This raises concerns regarding the different levels of social mixing and indeed the choice of these social and spatial proximities returns us to the basic questions of cohabitation and inequalities.
... One is the growing importance of the concept of social capital in the discourse of urban regeneration. Many policy-makers claim that urban regeneration should not only improve the physical quality of urban neighbourhoods, but also the social well-being of their residents (see for example, Flint and Kearns, 2006;Kearns, 2004;Lelieveldt, 2004;Middleton et al., 2005). Recently, the notion of social capital has been introduced in the political debates on urban regeneration. ...
Il saggio prende in esame un nuovo modello di inclusione abitativa sperimentato in un progetto di edilizia sociale nei Paesi Bassi. Il progetto prevede un mix sociale fra giovani olandesi e giovani titolari di protezione internazionale e l'autogestione di tutti i servizi abitativi da parte degli stessi inquilini. Il saggio presenta e discute gli aspetti più innovativi di questo modello dal punto di vista dell'organizzazione che lo ha promosso e degli inquilini che fanno parte del progetto.
In the 1960s, France built large high-rise developments to house poor and immigrant populations. This policy led to the rise of crime and violent unrest in those developments. Responding to that failure, France has tried, especially since the eighties, to promote a social mix policy in its new housing developments. In the first decade of the twenty first century, France elaborated an eco-district (eco-quartier) program whose guidelines emphasize the goals of this social mix policy together with affordability in public social housing. In light of these developments, this paper focuses on the socio-economic aspects of French eco-districts, especially with respect to low-income populations. The eco-quartier housing distribution has shown that social mix goals are barely reached. In affluent cities, where property prices are high (such as Paris, its middle-class suburbs and some large cities), the municipalities build eco-quartiers in substandard neighborhoods, to attract middle class families. In average cities, some municipalities have implemented more social housing than planned, to provide developers with access to State subsidies and loans – but can still privilege the middle-class in the allocation of the resulting housing. In the poorest French towns, eco-quartiers can improve living conditions for local residents but do not effectively promote social mixing.
The surge of environmental awareness and regulation has created ‘green’ markets, especially in real estate development, leading to the “eco-gentrification” of some neighborhoods (Kreuger 2007). Urban renewal, and projects marketed as “sustainable” neighborhoods, can in fact foster social polarization. One goal of such projects is improving the quality of life in a particular location, generating spaces more attractive than the rest of the city. If located in an already attractive (i.e. expensive) area, such improvement may paradoxically perpetuate discrimination in access to “sustainable” housing.
Urban renewal in China often involves large scale demolition of built-up areas and inhabitants are often subjects to forced eviction and involuntary resettlement, which can lead to the dissolution of social networks with comprehensive social impact as a result. Many qualitative methods are available to study this problem, but they lack quantitative aspects to substantiate the changing social capital of citizens under impact of urban renewal. This research is based on SEM along with direct comparison of survey respondents’ evaluations of the impact of citizens on social capital, in the urban renewal project in Shibati, Chongqing, China.Chongqing is characterized by its mountainous terrain, and the historic blocks are unique in its geographic environment and historical background. The main data used in this research were collected in Chongqing using a questionnaires survey conducted in December 2018. We
classified our respondents into three social groups based on their housing location affected by the urban renewal: resettle to another place, relocated after urban renewal; resident livedaround urban renewal area. This research will help us understand how three types of citizens’social capital change after urban renewal. Whether this change situation will causes social exclusion, then looking for advanced experience to find good ways to solve the problems.Finally, we rebuild operation mechanism of urban renewal both combining the research area background and advanced experience.
The main issue of the research in this work is involvement of social actors in the housing policy process. The literature review leads the author to conclude that in housing studies there exists a conceptual gap concerning knowledge about the role of social actors in the housing policy process. The gap is particularly apparent when one attempts to examine the housing policy process in the light of the concept of deliberative democracy. Furthermore, there are no research tools in housing studies that would make it possible to grasp the involvement of social actors in the housing policy process. The research problem in this work is formulating a research scheme which would enable to examine the involvement of social actors in the housing policy process and enrich housing studies with possibility to benefit more from the constructivist approach. The theoretical and methodological aim of this dissertation is to obtain a broader and deeper insight into the role of social actors in the housing policy process by expanding the author’s ‘D-Housing’ scheme.
Social relations in the historic fabric of the city of Yazd have been formed according to the neighborhood identity. Accumulation of these relationships over the years led to the creation of a broad set of social ties among the residents. Whereas In recent decades, for some reasons the concept of social capital in historic fabric of the city of Yazd has declined; it is essential that by recognizing the level of social capital in the neighborhoods, strengthen its dimensions. The main purpose of this research is to measure the social capital in the historic Posht-e Bagh neighborhood of Yazd. The method of present research is of survey type and the questionnaire tool was used to collect data. After investigating the prestigious sources in this regard, and considering the conditions and requirements of the population under study, 12 indicators, including the capacity to accept differences, information and awareness of the neighborhood, the sense of safety, Associational activities and common purpose, participation in local community, empowerment, the sense of trust, supporting networks, Collective norms and values, the sense of belonging, neighborhood connections, and value of life were determined. In this research, stage random method was used for sampling. Based on the Cochran formula, the sample size is consisting of 333 residents of the Posht-e Bagh neighborhood that each one represents a household. The results show that regarding the significance level of indicators, all of them impact on the social capital and there are multiple relationships between them and the social capital. The social capital in the historic fabric of Posht-e Bagh neighborhood is in the midrange as well; the main factor can be considered depopulation study area caused by original residents moved to the suburbs and replacement with low-income people and foreigners.
https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1494058/articulating_value_in_cooperative_housing_20190125.pdf
This article develops the concept of infrastructuring the social by analyzing the uses of local community work in Danish marginalized residential areas. Infrastructuring the social is a concept to describe how spaces are designated as problematic and marginalized and then remade through the creation and materialization of normative and instrumental relations. The article empirically demonstrates how infrastructuring the social works through enacting relations between residents, local community workers and professionals from municipalities, relations which are used to move people along normative trajectories. These trajectories are meant to transport people out of problematic areas, and into closer contact with “regular society,” such as Danish institutions, education, and the labor market. Infrastructuring the social is thus enacted from the outside in, imbued with the normative imperatives of the welfare state, seeking to rework the agency of residents and improve the marginalized residential area. The concept of infrastructuring the social nuances the trope of the “network” by highlighting the normative imperatives embedded in making relations, and goes beyond frameworks of governmentality by highlighting the practical messiness and on-going work of everyday governance.
Social mix is a key component of French urban restructuring policies. In France, as in many other Western countries, the arrival of the population attracted by new housing developments is seen as a vector for social diversity. Public authorities frequently declare that mixing would promote liveability and social interaction between different groups. But this outcome is refuted or qualified by many empirical studies. This paper explores how newcomers in new private housing developments experience their new neighbourhood based on qualitative interviews at three study sites in France. The research underlines how social interaction is influenced both by residential trajectories, leading to more or less familiarity and social distance with the neighbourhood, and spatial configurations, leading to various opportunities for social contact in public spaces.
This article illustrates how open innovation can be applied to understand renewal processes in complex sectors of society that involve many public, private and collective actors. The article discusses how a city renewal project can be conceptualized as ‘open city innovation’. A natural experiment of a process of “open city innovation”, involving a number of private and public actors is presented. Findings suggest that attractive and capital rich urban environments can be successfully created through open city innovation facilitated by 1) a clear focus of private actors on long-term benefits of the city development project, and 2) public organisational set-ups securing involvement of many actors, interactions and knowledge distribution among them. Furthermore, the article illustrates how the “natural experiment” as research method is a promising approach for analyzing complex city renewal projects.
JEL Codes: M1
In France, an urban renewal programme was launched in 2003 with the aim of boosting social mix by diversifying housing in disadvantaged neighbourhoods known as ‘Sensitive Urban Zones’. Drawing on 121 qualitative interviews conducted in seven neighbourhoods in the Paris region, this article focuses on relocation processes triggered by the demolition of social housing. How are these socio-residential changes experienced by those actually being relocated? To answer this question, the paper shows how an analysis of long-term residential trajectories can highlight and nuance the experiences of relocatees. Three broad types of trajectories are defined as an analytical framework for a comprehensive approach of the meaning of relocation and opportunity held by households. It shows how forced relocation can either be a positive step in residential trajectories or merely an adaptation in terms of housing, whether or not the inhabitants actually stay in their neighbourhood or leave it.
This paper explores the interaction between rural development policy and planning policies for rural housing within the context of Ireland. Drawing on an interpretive approach to policy analysis, the paper examines competing narratives of ‘the rural’ within the policy arena that underpin a fragmented approach to rural sustainable development. The evidence points to a disconnection between these spheres of public policy marked by a strained relationship between rural communities and regulatory planning, not least with regard to the preferred shape of the rural settlement pattern. It is argued that any housing policy for rural areas must give full regard to the social, economic and cultural attributes of rural life and not just the criteria of environment and landscape. In this context, partnership based local planning processes would enable the exploration of competing rural narratives to be re-orientated towards local needs, capacities and the perspectives of local people and the adoption of cultural, environmental and community values within the policy process.
Social landlords in the United Kingdom are embedded in governance regimes that regulate citizens’ conduct, including addressing antisocial behaviour. This article seeks to contribute to the literature on the geography of regulating conduct through examining the spatial dimensions of social landlords’ attempts to influence behaviour, and to map the range of technologies and measures utilized by social landlords on to particular urban spaces. Two spaces are identified: the property and its vicinity, and the wider neighbourhood. The article argues that social landlords have been engaging in increasingly intensive regulation of the private and domestic arena of the home as well as expanding their role in the regulation of spaces and populations within and beyond residential neighbourhoods.
This article argues that contemporary interest in social capital by community development theorists, funders, and practitioners is misguided and needs to be thoroughly rethought. It argues that social capital, as understood by Robert Putnam and people influenced by his work, is a fundamentally flawed concept because it fails to understand issues of power in the production of communities and because it is divorced from economic capital. Therefore, community development practice based on this understanding of social capital is, and will continue to be, similarly flawed.The article further argues that instead of Putnam's understanding of social capital, community development practice would be better served by returning to the way the concept was used by Glenn Loury and Pierre Bourdieu and concludes with a discussion of how these alternative theories of social capital can be realized in community development practice.
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This article develops an empirically grounded definition of social capital. Drawing on the work of Coleman and Putnam and others, the article discusses social capital in terms of participation in networks, reciprocity, trust, social norms, the commons, and social agency. Potential items to measure these elements were developed in an empirical study. A questionnaire containing 68 potential items was administered to approximately 1,200 adults in five Australian communities: two rural communities, two outer metropolitan areas, and one inner-city area of Sydney. The responses were subjected to extensive statistical analysis involving a hierarchical factor analysis, which identified a single general underlying factor and eight orthogonal specific factors, accounting for 49% of the variance. Three of the specific factors identified were community participation, agency, and trust. The five communities differed significantly in terms of the general and specific factors.
This article analyses recent debates about the Third Way in politics in Britain and the United States. It suggests that what is most significant is the emergence of a new politics of conduct that seeks to reconstruct citizens as moral subjects of responsible communities. The author considers the presuppositions of such a politics and its implications for technologies of government.
There is a growing consensus among urban analysts that inner‐city neighborhoods suffer from a lack of social capital. Because these areas do not have a strong social infrastructure in place to support successful revitalization efforts, urban policy recommendations now call for developing social capital in the worst‐off parts of our cities. However, this consensus has been reached without any empirical analysis of the effect of social capital on urban neighborhoods. Moreover, there have been few, if any, efforts to show how to measure social capital at a neighborhood level.This article proposes a social capital model of neighborhood change that measures social capital as a function of two constitutive elements: sociocultural milieu and institutional infrastructure. In addition, we present a theoretical model to show how social capital affects neighborhood stability and an empirical analysis that provides evidence of the positive effect social capital has on neighborhood stability.
This article examines how traditional neighborhood design (TND) can restore a sense of community to distressed neighborhoods. Traditional neighborhoods, such as those found in many cities and inner suburbs, provide their residents numerous opportunities and venues for social interaction. We apply the principles of TND to the redesign of a public housing project. We call our approach an “architecture of engagement.”Using a case study of Diggs Town, a public housing project in Norfolk, VA, we explore how the application of TND principles transformed a socially alienated and distressed neighborhood into a socially integrated and functional one. We find that TND techniques improve the quality of life by facilitating the social exchanges that create social capital.
In recent years considerable attention has been paid to the concept of social capital in attempting to explain the success or failure of policy delivery within the modern state. Much of the resulting research has, however, been conducted within a developing countries context. This article seeks to examine the concept of social capital within the context of contemporary Britain. It explores the existence and effect of social capital through case studies in three local environmental policy contexts. In doing so, the article suggests that the potential to develop social capital may be affected by both the underlying nature of collective action problems and by the historic pattern of policy delivery by the local state.
English
There is interest within the social exclusion debate about the extent to which people in deprived social housing estates are socially isolated and their material disadvantages reinforced by exclusion from job opportunities and inward-looking and negative social norms. One approach to this problem has been the introduction of a social mix through the development of new housing for owneroccupation. Through interviews with and diaries kept by residents in three Scottish estates this article charts residents’ networks and assesses the potential for owner-occupation to ‘reconnect’ existing residents with society beyond the local neighbourhood. The article concludes that owners and renters in regeneration areas largely inhabit different social worlds and that the introduction of owner-occupation makes little difference to renters’ networks. Policy implications include the need to meet the housing aspirations of homeowners in these areas, and the effects of promoting largescale commercial developments based on heavy car use in towns and cities.
Video-based media spaces are designed to support casual interaction between intimate collaborators. Yet transmitting video is fraught with privacy concerns. Some researchers suggest that the video stream be filtered to mask out potentially sensitive ...
In current theoretical and policy debates concerning social cohesion, the neighbourhood has re-emerged as an important setting for many of the processes which supposedly shape social identity and life-chances. It is in this context of a renewal of interest in local social relations and particularly the deployment of notions of social capital that this paper offers a critical review of a wide-ranging literature. The paper explores initially and briefly the idea that societies face a new crisis of social cohesion and outlines the key dimensions of societal cohesion. The core of the paper is then devoted to an examination of where the contemporary residential neighbourhood fits into these wider debates, particularly in relation to the interaction between social cohesion and social capital. In this context, some of the key debates around the concept of social capital are outlined. In moving beyond abstraction, the paper also shows how social capital can be broken down into relevant domains for policy action at the neighbourhood level and how concepts such as social cohesion and social capital can be operationalised for research purposes.
This paper assesses recent policies and initiatives to promote neighbourhood renewal in the context of housing market change in two different policy environments -- those of Denmark and England. The authors suggest that surface similarities in the recent urban policy discourses of the two countries tend to conceal deeper differences in the capacity of community-led neighbourhood-based initiatives to improve housing opportunities for local residents. The paper also suggests that comparative analysis of neighbourhood renewal policy has often been too firmly lodged at the national level, neglecting the complexities of 'multi-level’ governance and uneven spatial development which are increasingly important in urban policy formation and delivery. The authors examine the diverse motivations for the recent policy focus on the 'neighbourhood’ as an arena for intervention. They suggest that in England the impact of ever starker regional and sub-regional inequalities, problems associated with uneven economic growth, patterns of household migration and mobility, empty housing and cultural segregation extend well beyond the reach of the New Labour government's original urban policy agenda, in its concerns with 'capacity building’, 'partnership working’ and 'joined up governance’. There are now signs of a realignment in approach to impose a more strategic emphasis at a regional level of governance, although this remains underdeveloped in England. While Danish urban policy also has contradictory elements, there is a smaller gap between national government rhetoric and the strategy to improve specific localities, and the central role accorded to local government, which stands in contrast to recent English policy, has been a key aspect underpinning this process.
Housing occupies a unique place in public policy, neither fully part of the welfare state, nor fully part of the free market…Nevertheless, housing has been subject to sustained, pervasive and fundamental forms of intervention by the state for well over a hundred years. Today's housing markets and housing outcomes have been decisively shaped by public policy. (Kleinman 1996: 1)
Recently, the Netherlands has been pursuing a new policy of urban renewal. Old urban renewal concentrated on pre-war urban districts and had a technical orientation. The predominant shift in tenure was from commercial to social rented housing. New urban renewal focuses on post-war urban districts and tries to solve the mismatch between a differentiated demand for housing and a one-sided supply. The shift in tenure is now mainly from social rented housing to owner-occupied housing. The physical agenda is combined with social, economic and safety issues.This paper presents an overview of the transition from old to new urban renewal. We shall begin with a few observations and then present some current dilemmas. We shall comment on the recent report by the Dutch VROM Council'Acceleration and Deceleration in Urban Renewal’and offer some recommendations for successful urban renewal. These recommendations are geared to the current situation in the Netherlands, but they may also be relevant for other countries in and outside Europe.
Glasgow has a large council sector characterized by a range of problems associated with low-income tenants, disrepair, insufficient resources and high levels of housing debt. Reluctantly, the council has come to the view that stock transfer, ultimately to local community-based housing organizations, is the preferred way to address its housing problems. Stock transfer concerns the privately funded sale of social housing as a going concern from one social landlord to another. This has been an important way of re-financing existing social housing in the UK for more than a decade. However, the Glasgow transfer is complex, large (with more than 80,000 units transferring) and politically controversial. The success or otherwise of Glasgow's transfer has implications for the future of the stock owned by other councils in Scotland. The paper, therefore, is concerned with the wider context of transfer, the financial and economic arguments to do with Glasgow's stock transfer, and the wider implications of the transfer.
The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of the Danish Urban Committee's programme of social partnerships in a European context and to examine how their governance dynamics can be understood. In attempting to address these questions, a research evaluation is based on surveys addressing the main partners: the local authority, the resident boards and the social initiators. The evaluation included a representative resident survey and a case study of twenty of the social activities are employed. Moreover, the paper draws on two secondary research evaluations in, respectively, four and eight neighbourhoods. The main findings indicate that the social activities of the social partnerships did improve solidarity, but did not increase resident participation. Like other Western European partnerships their merits vary and consensus is fragile. From an inter-organizational governance perspective the collaboration between the public sector and civil society was established in 100 neighbourhoods, but the cooperation can be described as hesitant.
Social capital: the politics behind
- C Boix
- D Posner
Empowering Communities: The Impact of Registered Social Landlords on Social Capital
- D Burns
- R Forrest
- J Flint
- A Kearns
Competence and Accountability. The Report of the Inquiry into Housing Association Governance, London: National Federation of Housing Associations
- Hancock Panel
The Role of the Neighbourhood in Regeneration
- J Loughlin
- S Lux
- S Martin
Challenging Images: Housing Estates, Stigma and Regeneration
- J Dean
- A Hastings
Paper presented at the ‘Professionals between Policy and People’ conference. October7-8, Amsterdam and Utrecht
- M Loopmans
- Governmentality Perspective On Opsinjoren
Closing the Gap: The Scottish Executive's Community Regeneration Statement, Edinburgh: Scottish Executive
- Scottish Executive
Social Capital, Health and Economy in South Yorkshire Coalfield Communitie
- G Green
- M Grimsley
- A Suokas
- M Prescott
- T Jowitt
- R Linacre
Tackling social exclusion: the role of social capital in urban regeneration on Merseyside- from mistrust to trust
- K Hibbett
- P Jones
- R Meegan
Community Matters Survey, London: Barclays Sitesavers/Groundwork
- John Sakeld Research
Supporting Voluntary Committee Members
- A Kearns
- A More
- H Kay
- S Scott
Social Capital and Urban Governance: Adding a More Contextualised ‘Top-Down’ Perspective, Article produced as part of ESRC Research Programme - Cities: Competitiveness and Cohesion
- W Maloney
- G Smith
- G Stoker
UK Housing Review 2002/03, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Chartered Institute of Housing
- S Wilcox
Housing Wider Action: A Review, Edinburgh: Scottish Homes
- Scottish Homes
Urban governance and social cohesion: case studies in two Dutch cities. Paper presented at the European Network of Housing Researchers conference
- E Van Marissing
- G Bolt
- R Van Kampen