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Sense of Community and Neighbourhood Form: An Assessment of the Social Doctrine of New Urbanism

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  • Emily Talen

    (School of Social Sciences and Bruton Center for Development Studies, University of Texas at Dallas, 2601 N. Floyd Road, Richardson, Texas 75083-0688, USA, etalen@utdallas.edu)

Abstract

New urbanism, an umbrella term which encompasses 'neotraditional development' as well as 'traditional neighbourhood design', lives by an unswerving belief in the ability of the built environment to create a 'sense of community'. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the social doctrine of new urbanism can be successfully supported or at least integrated with the social science literature which deals with the question of community formation. Towards this goal, the paper first delineates the social doctrine of new urbanism, and then discusses the conceptual frameworks and empirical findings that either support or contradict the idea that a sense of community will follow the physical form of cities and neighbourhoods generally and new urbanist principles specifically. After laying this groundwork, the remainder of the paper presents an assessment of whether a reconciliation between research and doctrine may be possible, in light of various apparent contradictions between the social claims of new urbanists and the results of research by social scientists. It is concluded that new urbanists need to clarify the meaning of sense of community as it pertains to physical design. Further, it is maintained that while some research supports the idea that resident interaction and sense of community are related to environmental factors, the effectuation of this goal is usually only achieved via some intermediate variable. This latter point leaves open the question of whether any number of other design creeds could produce the same result via a different design philosophy. The need for further research is stressed; this should be focused on investigating the issue more directly.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily Talen, 1999. "Sense of Community and Neighbourhood Form: An Assessment of the Social Doctrine of New Urbanism," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 36(8), pages 1361-1379, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:36:y:1999:i:8:p:1361-1379
    DOI: 10.1080/0042098993033
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    Cited by:

    1. Lihua Xu & Huifeng Xu & Tianyu Wang & Wenze Yue & Jinyang Deng & Liwei Mao, 2019. "Measuring Urban Spatial Activity Structures: A Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Alessio Russo & Giuseppe T. Cirella, 2019. "Edible urbanism 5.0," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Delmelle, Elizabeth C. & Haslauer, Eva & Prinz, Thomas, 2013. "Social satisfaction, commuting and neighborhoods," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 110-116.
    4. Allison Ross & Craig A. Talmage & Mark Searle, 2019. "Toward a Flourishing Neighborhood: the Association of Happiness and Sense of Community," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1333-1352, November.
    5. Tim Butler, 2007. "Re‐urbanizing London Docklands: Gentrification, Suburbanization or New Urbanism?," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 759-781, December.
    6. Austin Boyle & Charles Barrilleaux & Daniel Scheller, 2014. "Does Walkability Influence Housing Prices?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 95(3), pages 852-867, September.
    7. Wood, Lisa & Frank, Lawrence D. & Giles-Corti, Billie, 2010. "Sense of community and its relationship with walking and neighborhood design," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1381-1390, May.
    8. Bergantino, Angela Stefania & Di Liddo, Giuseppe & Porcelli, Francesco, 2019. "Urban sprawl and local expenditures on local public transport, roads and traffic management: the case of Italian Municipalities," Working Papers 19_4, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica.
    9. Matthew Pepper & Andrew Sense & Kate Speare, 2016. "Systems Pluralism in Infrastructure Decision-Making for Socially Connected Greenfield Communities," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 129-148, April.
    10. William Wee-Lim Hew* & Siok-Hwa Lau & Gerald Guan-Gan Goh, 2018. "Eco-Innovations in Housing Delivery: A Case of Malaysia," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, pages 177-184:2.
    11. Jinfeng Zhang & Jianxin Zhang & Mingjie Zhou & Nancy Xiaonan Yu, 2018. "Neighborhood Characteristics and Older Adults’ Well-Being: The Roles of Sense of Community and Personal Resilience," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 949-963, June.
    12. Serafeim POLYZOS & Dionysios MINETOS, 2009. "Informal Housing In Greece: A Quantitative Spatial Analysis," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 4(2(11)), pages 7-33, May.
    13. David Bell & Mark Jayne, 2009. "Small Cities? Towards a Research Agenda," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 683-699, September.
    14. Farber, Steven & Li, Xiao, 2013. "Urban sprawl and social interaction potential: an empirical analysis of large metropolitan regions in the United States," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 267-277.
    15. Aneela YASEEN, 2017. "Inclusive Aspects of Urban Design: Sociability, Walkability and Overall Ambiance," Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies (CJUES), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(01), pages 1-17, March.
    16. Noland, Robert B. & Weiner, Marc D. & DiPetrillo, Stephanie & Kay, Andrew I., 2017. "Attitudes towards transit-oriented development: Resident experiences and professional perspectives," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 130-140.
    17. Julia Freybote & Hua Sun & Xi Yang, 2015. "The Impact of LEED Neighborhood Certification on Condo Prices," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(3), pages 586-608, September.
    18. Grant Schellenberg & Chaohui Lu & Christoph Schimmele & Feng Hou, 2018. "The Correlates of Self-Assessed Community Belonging in Canada: Social Capital, Neighbourhood Characteristics, and Rootedness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 597-618, November.

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