Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Neighbourhood'

The neighbourhood became one of the key sites for urban policy development during the previous New Labour government, and Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders were amongst their final strategies to combat “the most difficult problems faced by deprived neighbourhoods” (SEU 2000:5). This thesis explores the process of neighbourhood management in the coastal town of Ilfracombe, Devon. Ilfracombe features the characteristics of decline found in a number of coastal towns across the country, and suffers from high levels of deprivation (House of Commons Report 2006). Consequently, the neighbourhood management pathfinder ‘Transform’ was deployed in Ilfracombe in an attempt to address high deprivation. This thesis uses empirical findings collected through interviews and focus groups to examine the process of ‘Transform’, from its conception to its practical operation. It specifically considers the ‘voices’ of residents whose opinions and experiences, as targets of neighbourhood intervention are not always sufficiently documented within policy narratives. Consequently, the thesis unravels the process of neighbourhood management through findings generated by qualitative research ‘on the ground’. These are then examined through the lens of governmentality, allowing the methods, practice and outcomes of government, to be unpacked through a presentation of my empirical findings (Foucault 1991). These examinations take a particular interest in notions of community engagement and participation, partnership working, and the process of social exclusion. Here, partnership is demonstrated to be a tentative and fragile process underlined by local histories and differing temporal frameworks for action. But, this research also demonstrates that joint working can be improved through neighbourhood management which widens routes of communication to officers ‘on the ground’. However, what this thesis hopes to demonstrate most strongly is the continuing depth of problems felt by residents in Ilfracombe and that the process of ‘inclusion’ through paid work and ‘active’ citizenship, underlined in Labour’s neighbourhood renewal strategies, is not tackling some of the main problems of ‘deprived’ neighbourhoods, as experienced by the residents themselves.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: While the notions of open and closed subsets in a topological space are dual to each other, they take on another meaning when points and complements are no longer available. Closure operators have been extensively used to study topological notions on categories. Though this has recovered a fair amount of topological results and has brought an economy of e ort and insight into Topology, it is thought that certain properties, such as convergence, are naturally associated with neighbourhoods. On the other hand, it is interesting enough to investigate certain notions, such as that of closed maps, which in turn are naturally associated with closure by means of neighbourhoods. We propose in this thesis a set of axioms for neighbourhoods and test them with the properties of connectedness and compactness.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Al is die twee konsepte van oop en geslote subversamelings in 'n topologiese ruimte teenoorgesteldes van mekaar, verander hul betekenis wanneer punte en komplemente nie meer ter sprake is nie. Die gebruik van afsluitingsoperatore is alreeds omvattend in die studie van topologiese konsepte in kategorieë, toegepas. Alhoewel 'n redelike aantal topologiese resultate, groeiende belangstelling en groter insig tot Topologie die gevolg was, word daar geglo dat seker eienskappe, soos konvergensie, op 'n natuurlike wyse aan omgewings verwant is. Nietemin is dit van belang om sekere eienskappe, soos geslote afbeeldings, wat natuurlik verwant is aan afsluiting, te bestudeer. In hierdie proefskrif stel ons 'n aantal aksiomas oor omgewings voor en toets dit gevolglik met die eienskappe van samehangendheid en kompaktheid.

In recent decades there has been a rekindling of academic interest in place, and with the way in which processes associated with modernity, globalisation and individualisation may have diminished place based communities, and weakened the attachment between individuals and the neighbourhoods in which they live. There are also debates about the importance of neighbourhood context, particularly whether neighbourhood level material deprivation and increased ethnic diversity act to reduce individual belonging to neighbourhoods and interactions between neighbours. This thesis aims to contribute towards an understanding of the ways in which individual belonging to neighbourhoods, and interaction with neighbours, may have changed over time, in relation to individual and neighbourhood context. Data from the British Household Panel Survey, for England, for the period 1998 to 2008, measuring the outcomes of individual level belonging to neighbourhoods and the likelihood of talking to neighbours, are combined with neighbourhood level Census data. Longitudinal models are used to test for age and cohort effects, and then extended to consider neighbourhood level context. Specific attention is given to the relationship between the outcomes under study and neighbourhood material deprivation, neighbourhood ethnic diversity, household income and individual mobility between neighbourhoods. Some evidence was found for cohort effects, with younger cohorts, particularly those in higher income households, being less likely to talk to neighbours. There were no apparent cohort effects for the outcome of belonging to the neighbourhood, which is found to be associated with age (generally increasing as individuals get older), and neighbourhood context. In materially deprived neighbourhoods levels of belonging are lower, but only for individuals in households with low incomes. Similarly any effect of individual mobility was found to be conditional on household income and neighbourhood level material deprivation. In general, high or increasing neighbourhood level ethnic diversity was not associated with reduced individual belonging to neighbourhoods or likelihood of talking to neighbours once other contextual variables were considered. Also, increased ethnic diversity had a small positive effect on the outcomes under study for individuals living in neighbourhoods with high levels of material deprivation.

This research paper examines the potential of neighbourhood centres to generate and enhance social capital through their programs, activities, membership associations and community engagement. Social capital is a complex concept involving elements of norms, networks, and trust and is generally seen as enhancing community cohesion and the ability to attain common goals (outlined in more detail in Section 3). The aim of this research project is to describe the nature of social capital formation in terms of development and change in norms, networks and trust within the context of the operations of neighbourhood centres in three Queensland locations (i.e., Sherwood, Kingston/Slacks Creek, and Maleny). The study was prompted by surprisingly little research into how neighbourhood centres and their clients contribute to the development of social capital. Considering the large volume of research on the role of community organisations in building social capital, it is remarkable that perhaps the most obvious organisation with 'social capitalist' intentions has received so little attention (apart from Bullen and Onyx, 2005). Indeed, ostensibly, neighbourhood centres are all about social capital.

This thesis explores Chinese older people’s perception and experiences of ageing and age care in an urban neighbourhood in Beijing China. It is informed by a growing body of theoretical and empirical research regarding ageing and also draws upon research that has made linkage between ageing and place. However, little research has investigated older people’s experiences of ageing in a rapid changing urban neighbourhood and how these environmental changes affect their day to day lives in China. Thus, by conducting 34 in-depth interviews, participant observation in three urban neighbourhoods in urban Beijing and photography produced by the researcher, this study took a social constructionist stance and ethnographic research design to explore older people’s ageing experience in a rapidly changing environment, in this case, the role of the neighbourhood outdoor places in their day to day lives. The findings from this study demonstrate that the Western understanding of AIP is not sufficient to apply to the current social, economic and cultural context in urban Beijing. As the nascent concept of Ageing in place (AIP) has been embedded within broad socio-cultural institutions, numerous institutional legacies and socio-cultural factors directly and indirectly related to AIP serve as the discursive resources that shape and inform individuals’ disputant discourses. These factors not only frame their basic logics, vocabularies and moral reasoning but also shape their structural positions on housing access, pension rights and later-life care. Participants in these three neighbourhoods have been constantly constructing and reconstructing their understanding of ageing and AIP with the wider economic, political, social and cultural influences. These interesting perceptions of and attachment to neighbourhood engagement invite further theoretical reflections, as ageing and age care for older people in China have been greatly influenced by existing cultural norms, as well as new social trends, in a far more complicated and ambivalent fashion than commonly assumed and observers have envisioned.

Identifying with the emerging school of environmental criminology, this research focuses on the place of crime, aiming to explore and understand spatial variations in vulnerability. Residential crime (crime against the household) is studied - specifically residential burglary, burglary in other premises and simple theft. Analysis of data collected from police crime records supports the assumption that most residential crime is opportunistic - committed in areas familiar to the offender. Analysis is primarily made at inter- and intra-neighbourhood levels. Eight neighbourhoods of contrasting socio-economic characteristics and crime levels within, and in surrounding areas of, Swansea are studied - using a questionnaire (to interview samples of households) and a site survey (to record design and location features of dwellings). Two (related) themes structure the research. (i) Place as location. Hypotheses are tested which explain the vulnerability of neighbourhoods, in terms of variables which may either create or foreclose opportunities for crime (namely neighbourhood identity, social cohesion, variability, occupance levels, dwelling design and location). It is concluded that these need to be applied selectively as explanations of vulnerability - the most general explanation is proximity to offender-residence. The importance of place-specific studies is emphasised. (ii) Place as a centre of meaning. The second set of hypotheses concentrate on reaction to crime - in terms of relations between perceptions of crime, satisfaction with the neighbourhood, perceived risk of, and worry about, being burgled and security consciousness. All the hypothesised relationships were found to exist, to varying degrees. The implications of these results are discussed with reference to a range of crime prevention measures which have the objective of reducing or removing opportunities for crime. Some recommendations on ways in which the public can be made better informed on the real risks of crime are made.

The EU, over time, has garnered international recognition and acclaim as a successful agent of democratisation in third countries. The transitions of Greece, Spain and Portugal in the 1980s coupled with the recent Eastern enlargements of the EU into erstwhile communist space attest to the success of the EU in fostering tangible democratisation. However, as the EU rapidly approaches its institutional capacity, questions remain as to its viability as an agent of democratisation in the post-enlargement setting where the EU can no longer offer full membership as an incentive for political and economic reform. This thesis attempts to examine the viability of the EU as a democratic facilitator in the post-enlargement setting, through examination of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), a policy described by the EU as ‘everything but institutions’. Two mechanisms of normative transfer relative to the ENP were identified in the literature: conditionality, where the EU attaches incentives for successful political and economic reform, and socialisation, a newer notion whereby norms are transferred via interaction through generating close links with domestic actors. It was ascertained that in the context of the ENP, socialisation represented the dominant mechanism for normative change; conditionality was still utilised as a mechanism, however its scope had reduced greatly. To illuminate the phenomenon of EU democratic promotion, the case study of Armenia was chosen, a small but politically intriguing state in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood which had experienced (as is the case with the majority of post-Soviet states) stagnation and regression of the democratisation process since independence. Two facets of the EU’s democratisation strategy inherent in the ENP were chosen as empirical research areas: free and fair elections and interaction with domestic civil society organisations (CSOs). Free and fair elections offered evaluation of the conditionality aspects of the ENP through examining the 2008 Armenian presidential election. Interaction with domestic Armenian CSOs presented a rich phenomenon to examine the impact of socialisation in the ENP through utilising a case study examining four democratically minded NGOs. Ultimately, this thesis contends that through the ENP, the EU can no longer effectively wield conditionality as a viable mechanism of normative change and currently lacks the tools or a suitable environment to initialise normative transfers through socialisation. Consequently, it is argued that the EU has had little effect in facilitating democratisation in Armenia since the advent of the ENP.

Society is facing a great sustainability challenge, where the design of its social systems has made it increasingly difficult for the planet to support humanity. Given the complexity of the sustainability challenge, the planet requires a shift in the way society is organised and a commitment to sustainability from individuals and communities. This thesis explores how neighbourhood hubs can serve as a platform to engage individuals to take an active participatory role in their community. Neighbourhood hubs are defined as: a fixed physical gathering place which intentionally brings people together to carry out services, activities, programs and events that serve the local community. This research sought to uncover the dynamic and engaging characteristics of neighbourhood hubs that attract participants as well as the benefits of hubs to the local community in the form of community capitals. By combining the approach of Strategic Sustainable Development with the engaging characteristics of hubs, this thesis provides a planning tool to help hubs work towards their vision and move society towards sustainability. Neighbourhood hubs are found to be an effective and inspiring way for communities to move towards a vibrant and sustainable future.

carlygurr@gmail.com; adrienne.mccurdy@gmail.com; sarahrose.robert@gmail.com

A major traffic-related problem faced by residents is speeding, which not only causes safety concerns, but also noise issues. Traffic calming is a much favoured traffic management tool employed by road controlling authorities to primarily reduce vehicle speed, hence improve community liveability. This research aimed to investigate the impacts of traffic calming on speed, safety and traffic noise. The objectives included developing models for the prediction of speed and noise on traffic-calmed streets, and providing guidance for good design practices. Speeds of individual vehicles as they approached and crossed traffic calming devices were observed in order to identify the behaviour of individual drivers. Results indicated that the speed hump and the raised angled slow point produced the largest speed reductions and least variation in speeds, while mid-block narrowings had no significant speed changes. Inter-device speed was found to be mainly controlled by the separation between devices. 85th percentile speeds at distances from calming devices were 40 – 45 km/h for vertical deflections and 45 – 55 km/h for horizontal deflections. Speeds on approach to speed humps were found to be influenced by the distance available on the approaches, while operating speed at the speed humps were partly influenced by the hump width relative to the road width. There was evidence of safety benefits of traffic calming overall, despite mid-block crashes increasing post-calming. However, there was no association between the traffic calming and the crashes, which appeared to probably be due to other factors, human factors in particular. Noise levels produced by light vehicles across speed humps were in fact lower than on a flat section of road, given their respective mean speeds. At a reference speed of 25 km/h, noise levels produced over the 100 mm hump were 3.6 dBA higher than those produced by the 75 mm hump.

Energy efficient houses benefit communities not only to provide renewable energy shares and generating surplus electricity supporting local economic development. Also, residents in energy efficient houses have less energy usage that reduces household budget expenses. However, one of the obstacles of energy efficient technology installment of residential buildings is high investment cost, which can be solved with the usage of modular housing. In Europe, housing costs have a large share, especially for Sweden, housing expenses is a burden mostly for people who are at the risk of poverty. Also, high investment costs of energy efficient housing are combined with high construction prices leading a large share of budgets and effort to make houses affordable for low income groups. This study develops a scenario to find solutions for affordable housing problem in Sweden with a design proposal. The aim of this study is to investigate if there are ways of achieving socio-economic mix by the production of energy efficient affordable housing and urban gardening to develop a strategy for resource efficiency in Jakobsgårdarna. To achieve the aim, energy efficient affordable housing designed as modular units to achieve a local economic development. This study uses a design-based research method consisting of learning from background cases to transfer lesson learned in design phase of the sustainable neighborhood consisting of energy efficient technologies. Background cases were analyzed with literature review to define sustainable neighborhood, which was then used to develop a hypothesis. Findings of this thesis generates definition of sustainability tools consisting of a collaborative ownership; designing common kitchens; producing electricity and biogas from renewable energy sources; practicing urban agriculture; managing waste and storm and methods to cross subsidize energy efficient affordable housing production. The outcome of this research provides a sustainable neighborhood design proposal for Jacobsgårdarna, Borlänge.

This research is an autoethnographic investigation of consumption experiences, public and quasi-public spaces, and their relationship to community within an inner city neighbourhood. The research specifically focuses on the gentrifying inner city, where class-based processes of change can have implications for people’s abilities to remain within, or feel connected to place. However, the thesis draws on broader theories of the throwntogetherness of the contemporary city (e.g., Amin and Thrift, 2002; Massey 2005) to argue that the city is a space where place-based meanings cannot be seen to be fixed, and are instead better understood as events of place – based on ever shifting interrelations between the trajectories of people and things. This perspective argues the experience of belonging to community is not just born of a social encounter, but also draws on the physical and symbolic elements of the context in which it is situated. The thesis particularly explores the ways people construct identifications within this shifting urban environment. As such, consumption practices and spaces offer one important lens through which to explore the interplay of the physical, social and symbolic. Consumer research tells us that consumption practices can facilitate experiences in which identity-defining meaning can be generated and shared. Consumption spaces can also support different kinds of collective identification – as anchoring realms for specific cultural groups or exposure realms that enable individuals to share in the identification practices of others with limited risk (Aubert-Gamet & Cova, 1999). Furthermore, the consumption-based lifestyles that gentrifying inner city neighbourhoods both support and encourage can also mean that consumption practices may be a key reason that people are moving through public space. That is, consumption practices and spaces may provide a purpose for which – and spatial frame against which – our everyday interactions and connections with people and objects are undertaken within such neighbourhoods. The purpose of this investigation then was to delve into the subjectivities at the heart of identifying with places, using the lens of our consumption-based experiences within them. The enquiry describes individual and collective identifications and emotional connections, and explores how these arise within and through our experiences within public and quasi-public spaces. It then theorises these ‘imaginings’ as representative of an experience of community. To do so, it draws on theories of imagination and its relation to community. Theories of imagined community remind us that both the values and identities of community are held together by projections that create relational links out of objects and shared practices (e.g., Benedict Anderson, 2006; Urry, 2000). Drawing on broader theories of the processes of the imagination, this thesis suggests that an interplay between reflexivity and fantasy – which are products of the critical and the fascinated consciousness – plays a role in this imagining of community (e.g., Brann, 1991; Ricoeur, 1994). This thesis therefore seeks to explore how these processes of imagining are implicated within the construction of an experience of belonging to neighbourhood-based community through consumption practices and the public and quasi-public spaces that frame them. The key question of this thesis is how do an individual’s consumption practices work to construct an imagined presence of neighbourhood-based community? Given the focus on public and quasi-public spaces and our experiences within them, the research also asked how do experiences in the public and quasi-public spaces that frame these practices contribute to the construction of this imagined presence? This investigation of imagining community through consumption practices is based on my own experiences of moving to, and attempting to construct community connections within, an inner city neighbourhood in Melbourne, Australia. To do so, I adopted autoethnographic methodology. This is because autoethnography provides the methodological tools through which one can explore and make visible the subjectivities inherent within the lived experiences of interest to the thesis (Ellis, 2004). I describe imagining community through consumption as an extension of a placebased self. This self is manifest through personal identification in consumption spaces that operate as anchoring realms for specific cultural groups, as well as through a broader imagining of spaces, people, and practices as connected through experiences within realms of exposure. However, this is a process that oscillates through cycles of identification; these anchor one within place personally, but also disrupt those attachments. This instability can force one to question the orientation and motives of these imaginings, and reframe them according to different spaces and reference groups in ways that can also work to construct a more anonymous and, conversely, more achievable collective identification. All the while, the ‘I’ at the heart of this identification is in an ongoing process of negotiation, and similarly, the imagined community is never complete. That is, imagining community is a negotiation, with people and spaces – but mostly with the different identifications of the self. This thesis has been undertaken by publication, and thus the process of imagining community is explored and described through four papers. Of these, the first two focus on specific types of consumption spaces – a bar and a shopping centre – and consider the ways that anchoring and exposure within these spaces support the process of imagining community. The third paper examines the ways that the public and quasi-public spaces that make up the broader neighbourhood context are themselves throwntogether as a realm of exposure, and considers the ways this shapes my imaginings of this neighbourhood as community. The final paper develops a theory of imagined community, as a process of comparison and contrast with imagined others, to provide a summative conceptualisation of the first three papers. The first paper, chapter five, explores this process of comparison and contrast in relation to authenticity, which in itself is a subjective assessment of identity. This chapter was written as a direct response to the recent work of Zukin (2010), and draws on theories of authenticity as applied to personal and collective identification practices by consumer researchers Arnould and Price (2000). In this chapter, I describe how my assessments of the authenticity of my anchoring experiences within one specific consumption space, a neighbourhood bar, are evaluated in comparison to my observations of and affective reactions to the social practices of another group of residents in a different consumption space, the local shopping centre. Chapter five also provides an overview of the key sites and experiences that are considered in more detail in the following two chapters. In chapter six, I again draw on my experiences within the bar introduced in chapter five, this time to explore the process of developing a regular identity within a specific consumption space. Addressing the popular theory of the cafe or bar as third place (Oldenburg, 1999), this paper considers the purpose of developing anchored relationships with people within specific consumption spaces, and explores the different ways this may be achieved in an urban context where the mobilities and lifestyle practices of residents complicate the idea of a consumption space as an anchoring or third place. In doing so, this chapter also considers the manner in which this type of regular identification may be seen to be the beginning of the process of imagining community. In chapter seven, I consider the ways the broader public spaces of the neighbourhood work cumulatively to expose different aspects of its identity by following my everyday movements through the neighbourhood’s shopping centre and main street. Drawing on the theories of Urry (2000), Massey (2005), and Amin (2007, 2008), this chapter describes how these spaces operate as exposure realms, enabling the expression of different senses of the neighbourhood’s spaces, times, cultures, and identities through their physical, social, and symbolic elements. Yet they also enable them to be united: through habitual pathways, group practices of appropriation of space, and memory traces that construct connections between objects and experiences. This chapter describes this as a process of exposure to these different elements. Our imagination begins to expand the scope of the frames onto which it projects an imagined presence; it searches for patterns within the physical, social, and symbolic environment and draws connections between people and practices across spaces. As the final paper, chapter eight, deduces, it is in making these connections that one constructs the objects and shared practices of imagined community. This chapter describes this as an imagining of neighbourhood as a place-based extension of the self, and then explores the ways in which I drew on physical, social, and symbolic elements in an attempt to construct a fit between the neighbourhood’s offerings and my desires for place-based identity definition. This was as a cumulative but fragmented process, in which positive and negative experiences of interaction and identification with people and things were searched for their potential to operate as the objects and shared practices of imagined community. This chapter describes these connections as constructed through interplay between reflexivity and fantasy, as the imagination seeks balance between desires for experiences of belonging, and the complexities of constructing them within the throwntogether context of the contemporary city. The conclusion of the thesis describes the process of imagining community as a reflexive fantasy, that is, as a product of both the critical and fascinated consciousness (Ricoeur, 1994). It suggests that the fascinated consciousness imbues experiences with hope and desire, which the reflexive imagining can turn to disappointment and shame as it critically reflects on the reality of those fascinated projections. At the same time, the reflexive imagination also searches the practices of others for affirmation of those projections, effectively seeking to prove the reality of the fantasy of the imagined community.

Mainstream press tends to give visibility to immigrants only when problems arise. Through this visibility based on problems a virtual social identity is constructed and given to the immigration population. This identity is built on stereotypes and is not necessarily correct. However, the neighbourhood press of Barcelona, inscribed within the Catalan regional press’ own idea of journalism, offers a different approach to this issue due to its history, proximity and commitment to the region, and hence, the different characteristics of these journalists’ field where different capitals are sought and taken into consideration and different habitus are found. Therefore this press constructs and gives a different virtual social identity by using a differentiated set of frames. Through studying this mechanism the process through which this particular sort of press, and specifically its journalists, approach the idea of journalism was unearthed and its journalistic field explained.
La premsa generalista tendeix a donar visibilitat als immigrants només quan sorgeixen problemes. A través d'aquesta visibilitat basada en problemes es construeix una identitat social virtual. Aquesta identitat es construida amb estereotips i no és necessàriament correcte. No obstant això, la premsa de barri de Barcelona, dintre de la tradició de la premsa regional Catalana, ofereix, a causa de la seva història, proximitat i compromís amb la regió, un enfocament diferent a aquest problema i, per tant, les característiques diferents del camp social d'aquests periodistes fan que es busquin i es tinguin en compte diferents habitus i diferents capitals. D’aquesta manera aquesta premsa construeix i dóna una identitat social virtual diferent mitjançant l'ús d'un conjunt diferenciat de marcs. A través de l'estudi d'aquest mecanisme el procés a través del qual aquest tipus particular de premsa, i en concret els seus periodistes, s'acosten a la idea del periodisme ha estat estudiat i el seu camp periodístic explicat.

There is increasing evidence that neighborhood characteristics play a role in young people’s physical and psychosocial well-being (Almedon, 2005; Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Youngblade & Curry, 2006), and may be a critical determinant particularly for economically disadvantaged youth (Chung & Steinberg, 2006; Kohen, Leventhal, Dahinten, & McIntosh, 2008). Neighborhoods characterized by disadvantaged economic conditions, high ethnic diversity, and residential instability have a negative effect on a wide range of outcomes, such as school achievement, and emotional and behavioral problems (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Leventhal, Dupere, & Brooks-Gunn, 2009). More recent studies underline the importance of social processes occurring within the neighbourhood, showing how different levels of social connectedness and institutional resources can affect adolescents’ physical and mental health (Vieno, Nation, Perkins, Pastore, & Santinello, 2010). Neighbourhood social resources can protect against the negative consequences associated with structural disadvantage and decreasing the likelihood of experiencing academic, emotional and behavioural problems. A recent theoretical shift in neighbourhood studies led scholars to conceptualize neighbourhood resources not only in terms of factors that might offer protection from negative developmental trajectories, but also as wellness promotive factors that can foster a positive development during adolescence. Although studies based on this assumption are still limited, the existing evidence suggests that cohesive relationships among residents can nurture positive feelings about the self and promote the development of social competencies, such as civic engagement. Indeed, by developing social ties with people in the neighbourhood and getting involved in local organizations, adolescents can be socialized to civic attitudes and behaviours (Da Silva, Sanson, Smart, & Toumbourou, 2004; Flanagan, Cumsille, Gill, & Gallay, 2007). The present work, fitting in with this more recent line of research, aims to expand the existing evidence by examining the role of neighbourhood social and structural features in promoting or hindering adolescent civic development. The first study (study 1) was a qualitative study which arose from the complexity of defining and measuring the construct “neighbourhood”, involving a sample of 11-, 13- and 15-year olds. The main aims of this study were identifying an administratively defined geographical unit which is adequate for the investigation of neighbourhood effects in the Italian context, and detecting the neighbourhood features most relevant for adolescents’ well-being. The results of this study have been used to develop a quantitative study (study 2 and 3). The purpose of study 2 was to evaluate a theoretical model linking neighbourhood social connectedness and adolescents’ civic engagement (local and global civic responsibility, civic competencies, civic behaviours), in a sample of 11-, 13- and 15-year olds living in a mid-sized Italian city (Padova). In particular, in the proposed theoretical model, the association between neighbourhood social connectedness and adolescents’ civic engagement has been examined, taking into account the mediating effects of non-parental adults’ and peers’ networks and adolescents’ attachment to the neighbourhood. Study 3 aims to evaluate which neighbourhood structural and institutional features (perceived wealth, ethnic composition, population density, physical and social disorder, perceived opportunities for activities and meeting places) impact the levels of social connectedness within the local community. Our findings suggest that adolescents, when asked to identify their neighbourhood of residence, refer to the districts of the city, which in Padova are called “urban units”. Moreover, participants evaluated their neighbourhoods by referring both to social and structural features: the presence of friends in their local communities, having an extended social network with neighbours, the presence of relationships among residents characterized by trust and reciprocity, neighbourhood opportunities for activities, and meeting places. The findings from study 2 show a positive association between the levels of social cohesion in the neighbourhood (intergenerational closure, trust and reciprocity) and adolescent personal connectedness in the local community (neighbourhood-based friends, personal relationships with neighbours), on one hand, and their levels of civic engagement, on the other hand; this association was mediated by the degree to which adolescents perceive their networks of friends (peers and non-parental adults) to be civically engaged and by adolescents’ attachment to their neighbourhood. Finally, results of the third study showed that high ethnic diversity, population density, and physical and social disorder (measured at the neighbourhood level) were associated with lower levels of social connectedness among residents. On the contrary, the availability of meeting places and opportunities for activities in the neighbourhood was a positive predictor of social connectedness within the local community. In conclusion, understanding contextual correlates of adolescent civic engagement is critical because the levels of civic engagement during adolescence can predict civic participation in adulthood (Youniss, McLellan, & Yates, 1997; Zaff, Malanchuk, & Eccles, 2008). Moreover, civic engagement is associated with better psychosocial adjustment (Schmidt, Shumow & Kackar, 2007), and it can also provide services to the local community, thus promoting the effective functioning of society (Flanagan & Sherrod, 1998). Understanding contextual correlates of civic engagement is critical in order to develop community interventions able to promote its development. Our results suggest that, in order to promote civic engagement, programs need to focus on the main social settings of adolescents’ lives. Similarly to what was postulated by Zaff et al., (2008), our results indicate that a broad “civic context” should be in place throughout adolescence in order to maximize the development of civic engagement. Thus, civic engagement initiatives should take a broader approach than only implementing civic activities for young people, for example by promoting cohesive ties within the neighbourhood. A promising approach consists in fostering the opportunities for activities and meeting places for residents in a community; improving neighbourhood opportunities would not only nurture social cohesion within the neighbourhood, but also create a setting for young people’s positive development.
Molte evidenze empiriche mostrano l’influenza che le caratteristiche del quartiere di residenza possono avere sullo sviluppo in età adolescenziale (Almedon, 2005; Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Youngblade & Curry, 2006), soprattutto per ragazzi e ragazze che provengono da famiglie svantaggiate da un punto di vista socio-economico (Chung & Steinberg, 2006; Kohen, Leventhal, Dahinten, & McIntosh, 2008). I quartiere caratterizzati da un basso status socio-economico, un’elevata diversità etnica ed una forte instabilità residenziale hanno un effetto negative su una grande varietà di indicatori di benessere, come il rendimento scolastico o lo sviluppo di problemi emotive e comportamentali (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Leventhal, Dupere, & Brooks-Gunn, 2009). Studi recenti sottolineano l’importanza dei processi sociali che avvengono all’interno del quartiere, mostrando come diversi livelli di coesione sociale e la disponibilità di risorse istituzionali possano influenzare il benessere fisico e mentale in adolescenza (Vieno, Nation, Perkins, Pastore, & Santinello, 2010). Le risorse sociali della comunità locale possono proteggere dalle conseguenze negative dello svantaggio socio-economico del quartiere diminuendo la probabilità di andare incontro a problemi scolastici, emotivi e comportamentali. Recentemente, alcuni autori hanno concettualizzato le risorse del quartiere non sono come fattori protettivi, ma come fattori in grado di promuovere uno sviluppo positivo durante l’adolescenza. Anche se gli studi che partono da questo assunto non sono ancora molto diffusi, sono presenti evidenze empiriche che mostrano come relazioni coese all’interno del quartiere possano promuovere il benessere psicologico e l’acquisizione di competenze sociali, come il coinvolgimento civico. Instaurando forti legami sociali all’interno del quartiere, infatti, e partecipando alle organizzazioni del territorio, gli adolescenti possono sviluppare valori, competenze e comportamenti orientati al bene comune (Da Silva, Sanson, Smart, & Toumbourou, 2004; Flanagan, Cumsille, Gill, & Gallay, 2007). Il presente lavoro, che si inserisce in questa recente area di ricerca, ha l’obiettivo di ampliare le attuali conoscenze riguardo al ruolo che le caratteristiche sociali e strutturali del quartiere di residenza hanno nello sviluppo civico in adolescenza. Lo studio 1, condotto con una metodologia qualitativa, nasce dalle complessità legate alla definizione e misura del quartiere, ed ha coinvolto un campione di adolescenti dell’età di 11, 13 e 15 anni. Lo studio ha avuto come obiettivi principali la definizione di un’unità geografica appropriata allo studio del quartiere nel contesto italiano e l’individuazione delle caratteristiche del quartiere più salienti per il benessere in età adolescenziale. I risultati di questo studio sono stati utilizzati per progettare una ricerca quantitativa, sulla quale si basano il secondo ed il terzo studio. L’obiettivo principale dello studio 2 è stato valutare un modello teorico sull’associazione tra la coesione sociale all’interno del quartiere ed il coinvolgimento civico in adolescenza (responsabilità civica locale e globale, competenze civiche, comportamenti civici), in un campione di ragazzi e ragazze di 11, 13 e 15 anni provenienti da Padova. Nel modello teorico proposto è stata valutata l’associazione tra diversi aspetti della coesione sociale nel quartiere ed il coinvolgimento civico degli adolescenti, ipotizzando come fattori di mediazione il livello di coinvolgimento civico percepito all’interno della propria rete sociale (di pari ed adulti) a l’attaccamento al quartiere. Lo studio 3 mirava a valutare quali caratteristiche strutturali ed istituzionali (ricchezza percepita, composizione etnica, densità di popolazione, disordine fisico e sociale, disponibilità di attività e luoghi d’incontro) del quartiere avessero un impatto sul livello di coesione sociale della comunità locale. I risultati mostrano che i partecipanti, di fronte alla richiesta di identificare il proprio quartiere, fanno riferimento alle “unità urbane di Padova”. Inoltre, la valutazione del quartiere viene fornita riferendosi ad aspetti sociali, istituzionali e strutturali della comunità: la presenza di amici nel quartiere, la presenza di estese reti sociali con i vicini, relazioni coese tra i residenti e la disponibilità di attività e spazi d’incontro. I risultati del secondo studio evidenziano un’associazione positiva tra il livello di coesione sociale all’interno del quartiere (coesione intergenerazionale, fiducia e reciprocità) e l’integrazione personale dell’adolescente nella comunità (amici nel quartiere, relazioni sociali con i vicini), da una parte, ed i livelli di coinvolgimento civico, dall’altra; questa associazione è risultata mediata dal grado in cui gli adolescenti percepivano elevati livelli di responsabilità e partecipazione civica tra adulti e pari facenti parte della loro rete sociale, e dal livello di attaccamento alla comunità locale. Infine, i risultato del terzo studio mostrano che un’elevata diversità etnica, elevati livelli di instabilità residenziale e disordine fisico e sociale si associano a minori livelli di coesione all’interno del quartiere. In conclusione, comprendere i correlati contestuali dello sviluppo civico in adolescenza risulta fondamentale, in quanto i livelli di coinvolgimento civico in adolescenza costituiscono il miglior predittore della partecipazione civica in età adulta (Youniss, McLellan, & Yates, 1997; Zaff, Malanchuk, & Eccles, 2008). Inoltre, il coinvolgimento civico è risultato associate ad un maggior benessere psicologico (Schmidt, Shumow & Kackar, 2007), ed allo stesso tempo può fornire servizi alla comunità, contribuendo dunque ad un miglior funzionamento della società (Schmidt, Shumow & Kackar, 2007). Comprendere i correlati contestuali del coinvolgimento civico è fondamentale per progettare interventi efficaci in grado di promuoverne lo sviluppo. I nostri risultati suggeriscono che, per promuovere il coinvolgimento civico in adolescenza, è necessario focalizzarsi sui principali contesti di vita in cui ragazzi e ragazze sono inseriti. Analogamente a quanto sostenuto da Zaff e collaboratori (2008), i nostri risultati suggeriscono che per favorire lo sviluppo civico gli adolescenti abbiano bisogno di un “contesto civico”, composto da diversi setting sociali in cui vengono trasmessi obiettivi tra loro coerenti. I programmi mirati a promuovere valori, competenze e comportamenti di natura civica, dunque, dovrebbero avere un approccio che va al di là della semplice educazione civica, o del coinvolgimento degli adolescenti in organizzazioni della comunità. Un approccio che, coerentemente con i nostri dati, risulta promettente, consiste nella promozione di attività e luoghi d’incontro all’interno dei diversi quartieri; alimentare le opportunità d’incontro potrebbe non solo favorire la creazione di legami coesi tra i residenti della comunità locale, ma concorrerebbe anche a creare un contesto adeguato per uno sviluppo positivo in adolescenza.

Over the last decade gentrification has demanded a great deal of attention from urban scholars. In spite of this attention, the literature is characterized more by speculation than answers especially with regards to gentrification's consequences and planning implications. In response to this deficiency, this thesis sets out to determine the effects of gentrification on inner city neighbourhood public service demand. Because it is not clear how gentrification affects public service demand, urban policy makers are unable to plan for changes in demand. Knowing what will be demanded could facilitate efficient delivery of new services and efficient closure of costly underused services. Moreover, knowing what will be demanded may help decision makers arrive at better informed decisions. A case study area, Vancouver's Grandview Woodland, was chosen because it was able to provide a sample of gentrifiers and of traditional inner city residents. Forty one gentrifier and forty one traditional resident households were interviewed using a questionnaire designed to gather information about each group's demographics, satisfaction with street and traffic conditions, and their use of, satisfaction with, and attitudes toward neighbourhood public services. The attitudinal data indicate that gentrifiers value neighbourhood amenities such as parks, good street and traffic conditions, and other public services significantly more than the traditional residents do. This is expressed in their positive and negative perceptions of the neighbourhood's characteristics. There is also evidence that the gentrifiers are motivated to secure the public services they desire, for they feel that the services which they use are very important to their households. The behavioural data indicate that the gentrifiers present greater demands for parks, family centres, public health clinics, tennis and racquetball courts, and community centres. They only decrease demand for ethnic centres, and they maintain demand for other neighbourhood public services.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of
Graduate

This thesis focuses on one aspect of the rapid transit planning process-the analytical assessment of localized impacts. The purpose of this thesis is to develop and test a method to determine the neighbourhood impacts of a proposed Richmond Rapid Transit Line in Vancouver. The method developed is as follows: Past impacts of various rapid transit systems are examined, and then, based on this information, quantitative and qualitative methods are used to determine potential impacts in a selected study area. A compendium of impact determinants is generated as part of the method. In order to fine tune the method, specific findings on impacts in the Study Area, as well as ways to mitigate adverse impacts in each category, were examined. In all, ten impact categories are dealt with—noise, loss of privacy, shadowing and light overspill, view obstruction and other aesthetic effects, traffic and parking impacts, pedestrian impacts, land use and property price impacts, commercial activity impacts, indirect social impacts, and impacts on local amenities. To assist in the application of- the method to other situations, a set of recommendations is presented. In addition, a general recommendation is made to compensate for unmitigated impacts by the addition of special community amenities. The findings of this thesis must be qualified by the need to examine additional routes, technologies, and neighbourhoods; and by the need to subject them to the scrutiny of the people that would be most affected.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of
Graduate

The neighbourhood reconstruction involves three key stakeholders—municipality, builders and residents. There are some conflicts among them due to their different standpoints, and the reasons of most conflicts relate to human needs of residents when they are not met. The main purpose of this study is to create a general socially sustainable neighbourhood reconstruction process through the lens of FSSD and Max-Neef‘s human needs theory. This new process will promote the collaboration among these three key stakeholders and help residents to have their basic human needs fulfilled. First of all, a vision of a sustainable neighbourhood reconstruction process is created and amended based upon literature review and authorities‘ feedback; then a summary of the current reality of the reconstruction process is addressed in light of a case study; followed by the analysis of the gap between vision and reality. At last, different suggestions are given with the purpose of eliminating the gap.

The main purpose of this study was to explore, understand, and describe children’s perspectives of safety in their neighbourhood. Participants included 15 children aged 7 to 9 years, who lived in a neighbourhood in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia characterized by high crime rate and characteristics associated with high vulnerability. The methodology used was symbolic interactionism. Data collection included individual and collective drawing activities and semi-structured group interviews conducted across three group sessions. Field notes and memos were used to document the data analysis process, in addition to peer debriefing sessions. A constant comparison method guided the coding, categorization, and analysis of all data, which were reviewed by a peer audit. Through the social interaction in groups, children co-constructed the meanings of safety, enriching the discussions and expanding the findings. Two interrelated core categories emerged: protective conditions that serve to help the children prevent or avoid risky events. Protective conditions were associated with places and people the children perceived as protective and with protective actions taken and protective accessories used to prevent harm. Risky events included neighbourhood disorder, crime, contact with strangers, and accidents. The fear of exposure to such events could result in harm and, consequently, damage children’s sense of well-being. The dynamic relationship between the obverse meanings of safety -safe and unsafe- contributed to children’s understanding of this concept. It is suggested that the social context where the children live and the social interaction among participants shaped their perspectives of safety. While examples of extreme dangerous situations, descriptions of safety rules taught by adults, and media violence illustrated children’s “negative” perspectives of safety, a few participants indicated that supportive relationships promoted sense of security. Implications of these findings for parents, psychologists, and other professionals working with children suggest efforts to (a) understand and recognize the benefits and risks of teaching children strategies to protect themselves, (b) promote positive and stable relationships within the child’s proximal environments (family, school, and neighbourhood), and (c) reduce situations in the neighbourhood associated with disorder as children perceive themselves as unable to maintain their sense of well-being.

Neighbourhood design is a part of sustainable development, and attempts to create better places for people by reflecting residents' values, as well as coordinating powers, resources, and actions between stakeholders. This research aims to investigate neighbourhood regeneration plans using an activity-based approach. It explores how daily social activities can be modelled using the case study of Brunswick, to develop the analytical and decision-support roles of modelling in the urban design process. The literature about the role of design in urban development argues that the designers' attempts to predict how new environments will actually be used have not often been successful. It is assumed that if the design process incorporates human-centred activities in creating and maintaining neighbourhood places, the certainty and reliability of any future vision will be enhanced. Following a critical review of the concept of activity in urban design and urban modelling, the daily activities of Brunswick residents are investigated through the residents' completion of daily diaries. This data contributes to an analytical activity-based approach. The outcomes provide the analyses of the following areas: the activity choices of individuals and how these choices are linked with the socio-demographics of residents, how current local agencies and the existing physical environment provide opportunities and restrict residents' participation in local activities, and the future activity-based scenarios of change as a result of the neighbourhood regeneration proposal submitted to the Manchester City Council. Ultimately, an activity-based framework is proposed which enables the qualitative analysis of regeneration planning statements, community consultation reports, institutional programmes, and policy documents. The framework then outlines the method of integrating the three above mentioned quantitative results with the qualitative data, and the formation of activity scenarios. This thesis demonstrates how this framework assists local agencies, authorities, service providers, and regeneration teams with regard to improving their services, promoting social integration of residents in neighbourhoods, and linking neighbourhoods to their wider contexts. The modelling results reveal that the elderly residents of Brunswick are isolated, the Brunswick spaces are not frequently used in the evenings, and the existing activities are not popular for male, employed and highly qualified residents. Although Brunswick Church attempts to be the community centre of the Brunswick neighbourhood, the provision of activities in this place is via other organisations. Medlock School and the Sure Start Children's Centre are the community hubs for parents and children to socially interact with other members. In addition, the new layout of the Brunswick neighbourhood after the regeneration scheme will improve the safety level of the Brunswick spaces, but will partially link Brunswick to Manchester. There is the lack of exchanging data as well as the absence of the indication of the reasons and processes that have contributed to the current challenges in Brunswick. Hence, there is inconsistency between the stakeholders' views towards the neighbourhood issues, and limited evidence is available for stakeholders to have a robust future outlook to the regeneration plan.

Objectives: Little theoretical work has been conducted on the topic of neighbourhood effects on health outcomes, let alone within dentistry. Previous work has often quantified and described outcomes without proper investigation of potential causal mechanisms and pathways. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory research was to investigate features of neighbourhood environments that may influence tooth decay in adults. Methods: Relevant literature was mapped onto a neighbourhood based theoretical framework to create numerous pathways by which neighbourhoods influence decay. Spatial microsimulation was used to combine data from the Adult Dental Health Survey (2009) with Census data to create a synthetic dataset of individuals at the small area level for the city of Sheffield (UK), including associated socio-economic, demographic and dental characteristics. This data formed the basis of the agent-based models which were used to test the theoretical pathways in two contrasting study areas in Sheffield, as well as a hypothetical scenario involving an extra shop being added to each location. Results: The trends of the agent-based models indicated that the same pathway (the interaction between shops, diet and sugar intake) had the largest impact in both study areas, leading to statistically significant increases in decay in both cases (p < 0.05). The results of the hypothetical simulation involving an extra shop revealed a statistically significant decrease in decay in the more affluent study area (p < 0.05), while decay scores remained similar in the less affluent study area. Conclusions: The findings suggest the interactions between shops, diet and sugar intake may be the most important neighbourhood based mechanisms for tooth decay, regardless of socio-economic status. However, additional simulations pointed to more opportunities to reduce decay in the more affluent study area through the local food environment. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of previous research and future work.

This thesis recovers and examines what are termed the neighbourhood aspects of Edmund Burke’s and Thomas Paine’s thought. These neighbourhood ideas reveal a conception of politics in both writers that makes no distinction between the different scales of human action. This is a way of thinking about the relations of people and communities that has been overlooked by those studying the history of international political thought, as it does not conform to the prevailing image of ‘international’ thought. It is argued that a dichotomised conception of politics divided into domestic and international realms of action became dominant in the nineteenth century and shaped both the way we think about the world and the values embodied in our present ways of life. By recovering this alternative neighbourhood conception, we are able to consider with a new sense of possibility what we think about the concept and values we have inherited. The thesis adapts Quentin Skinner’s arguments about the method of studying the history of political thought to argue that there is a much broader history of international political thought that can be drawn upon. The thesis examines Burke and Paine’s arguments and involvement in some of the most significant events of the late eighteenth century. It explores how the neighbourhood perspective shaped their ideas and arguments about the relations between Britain and the American Colonies and the establishment of an independent America. It considers Burke arguments in regards to Britain’s involvement in India through the East India Company and how neighbourhood ideas shaped his vision of Empire. Finally it considers Burke’s and Paine’s different reaction to the French Revolution, and their common concern for the growing dominance of the conception of politics that saw people and communities as isolated, autonomous individuals, rather than socially constituted beings.

Many local churches in Britain have adopted a neighbourhood paradigm, in which the neighbourhood is seen as the primary locus of mission and ministry. Social change increasingly calls that paradigm into question. This thesis engages in a reflective conversation between the sociological context of neighbourhood churches in the United Kingdom and theological themes which resource the self-understanding of such churches. Beginning with action research, and then through a review of literature from ecclesial sources, the neighbourhood paradigm is explored and then critiqued. The critique comes particularly through the sociology of individualization. Alternative models of church are explored as they begin to address these issues. The action research, analysis of the neighbourhood paradigm, and the study of individualization all point to ambivalence and hybridity as key experiences in late modernity. Theological reflection on individualization and ambivalence develops an understanding of Christian freedom which can engage with ambivalence and social change. This provides a theological resource for relating to the sociological context of local churches. This resource recognizes the essentially mixed and hybrid nature of contemporary lives and contemporary neighbourhoods, and provides a foundation for a renewed hybrid paradigm for neighbourhood ministry.

In architectural and urban design the notion of place is highly desired, or in its absence, strongly criticised. Yet what is place and how might it be engendered by design? Over the last 30 years an extensive body of research on place has emerged, largely based on phenomenological approaches. This work gives rise to the question of whether place is a purely social concept completely divorced from physical space, or is linked to space and therefore amenable to design based intervention. Talen and Relph, for example, assert that there is no link between space and the social notion of place. This thesis attempts to approach place from a highly empirical and positivist methodology grounded in the theories known as space syntax but inspired by phenomenological approaches to place. The hypothesis presented here is that neighbourhoodplace, or sense of the genius loci of a place, is partially dependent on the global homogeneity of the relationships between spaces defining a region (the neighbourhood) combined with a local heterogeneity of the spatial properties that create a place’s identity. Results from a study show that a measure of total revelation (a measure of the difference in information content between a space and its immediately adjacent spaces) is consistent with the degree to which participants would locate a café/place, reinforcing other work done in the area and by environmental psychologists such as Kaplan and Kaplan. Total revelation serves as a powerful measure of the local heterogeneity of a location and hence a place’s identity. In further experiments presented in this thesis, neighbourhood boundaries were compared to the areas reported by inhabitants and against new measures of point synergy and point intelligibility, as well as a number of methods suggested by Raford and Hillier, Read, Yang and Hillier, and Peponis, along with a ‘null’ control measure. Evidence is presented suggesting that point synergy is the most effective method for predicting a neighbourhood’s extent from its spatial configuration, hence making it a suitable method to define the global homogeneity of a named district. This work concludes by suggesting that that while place may be unrelated to geographic location there is evidence to suggest that it is related to space (in the configurational or architectural sense) which would appear to contradict those who assert that the notion of place is wholly unrelated to the physical aspects of space. From an architectural perspective this thesis suggests that certain key aspects of spatial design are present in the affordance of social neighbourhoods.

This thesis investigates the nature, extent and concentrations of collective efficacy, crime and anti-social behaviour within the geographic areas known as the 100 neighbourhoods of the city of Sheffield. The investigation is conducted through a neighbourhood policing lens with the cornerstone of the work considering the broken windows theory. The term 'collective efficacy' is more commonly referred to in American based discourses and this thesis argues that collective efficacy, in this research site, manifests itself differently when considering similar circumstances such as levels of crime, disorder and deprivation. The thesis utilises geographic information systems (GIS) and the analytical capabilities of this software to intuitively examine qualitative and quantitative data developed during the research and reveals that for some neighbourhoods, theories and previous empirical evidence about the links between demographic and environmental factors, collective efficacy and crime and anti-social behaviour rates is challenged. The thesis demonstrates that certain Sheffield neighbourhoods indicate significant levels of collective efficacy despite high levels of crime, disorder or indeed both although collective efficacy in certain locales can be a predictive tool for levels of crime and disorder. In examining quantitative and qualitative data, the latter via proxy survey methods, the argument is posited that future small local area analysis and research would facilitate a greater understanding within the United Kingdom context of the mechanics of collective efficacy in cities. The thesis considers how neighbourhood policing in Sheffield has been historically conducted and how policing has potentially disconnected itself from entrenched neighbourhood practices. With the advent of Police and Crime Commissioners and the future of policing having greater focus on public accountability and transparency, the thesis also considers the use of new technology and how such advances may strengthen the participation between the public and the police in the future policing of neighbourhoods.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether compositional and contextual factors relating to neighbourhoods in which children live can explain differences in their wellbeing, over and above factors at the individual and family level. Data collected on young children, sampled from advantaged, disadvantaged and ethnic minority electoral wards within the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) were used to explore the research objectives. 2001 census small area statistics were uniquely utilised to further characterise MCS wards. Multi-level statistical modelling techniques were employed to analyse these data. Findings suggest that individual and family level factors account for most of the differences in cognitive, behavioural and physical wellbeing. Wards in disadvantaged and ethnic minority areas were shown to be negatively associated with children's readiness to start school and their vocabulary abilities. Behavioural difficulties and the body mass index (BMI) of children were also associated with these wards. Alongside these factors, several subjective measures of the local area were associated with children's wellbeing. Poor local safety and problems with litter were negatively associated with school readiness and vocabulary skills respectively. Problems with noise, pollution, lack of places to play and poor access to shops were associated with children having behavioural difficulties. Problems with litter in the vicinity were also related to children having a higher BMI. Furthermore, some 2001 census small area statistics, characterising the demographic composition of each ward were also associated with child wellbeing. Wards with high numbers of children living in them were associated with poor school readiness scores and areas with high numbers of cohabiting childless couples were associated with children having lower vocabulary scores. Wards with high levels of female lone parents who were employed and married couples with children were associated with fewer child difficulties. None of these census factors were associated with BMI.

This thesis explores the role of modelling and computational simulation, in relation to social systems, with specific focus on Schelling's Bounded Neighbourhood Model. It discusses the role of computational modelling and some techniques that can be used in the Social sciences. Simulation of social interaction consistently creates debate in the Social sciences. However, most models are dismissed as either too simplistic or unrealistic. In an attempt to counter these criticisms, more complex models have been developed. However, by increasing the complexity of the model, the underlying dynamics can be lost. Schelling's models of segregation are a classic example, with much of the work building on his simple segregation model. The complexity of the models being developed are such that, real world implications are being inferred from the results. The Complex Systems Modelling and Simulation (CoSMoS) process has a proven track record in developing simulations of complex models. In a novel application, the CoSMoS process is applied to Schelling's Bounded Neighbourhood Model. The process formalises Schelling's Bounded Neighbourhood Model and develops a simulation. The simulation is validated against the results from Schelling's model and then used to question the model. The questioning of the model is an attempt to examine the underlying dynamics of the segregation model. In this respect, two measures, static and dynamic, are used in the analysis of the results. Initally, the effect of ordered movement was tested by changing the movement, from ordered to random. A second experiment examined agents' perfect knowledge of the system. By introducing a sample, the agents' knowledge of the system is reduced. The third experiment introduced a friction parameter, to examine the effect of ease of movement into and out of the neighbourhood. In the final experiment, Schelling's model is recast as a network model. Although the recasting of the model is slightly unorthodox, it opens the model up to network analysis. This analysis allows the easy definition of a `social network' that is overlaid on Schelling's `neighbourhood network'. Two different networks are applied, Random and Small World. The results of the experiments showed, that Schelling's model is remarkably robust. Whilst the adjustments to the model all contributed to changes in the output, the only significant difference occurred when the social network was added.

This thesis presents a new neighbourhood classification, the Leeds Classification for Community Safety (LCCS). This is used to demonstrate the usefulness of area classifications for providing area context information to crime analysis, and for identifying neighbourhoods with atypical crime profiles - given their neighbourhood type. The work can be seen as a development of the classifications produced by the Home Office for comparative performance purposes, but at a smaller, neighbourhood scale. There has been a recent trend among practitioners to use commercial geodemographic products for this task, but these tools are primarily designed for consumer segmentation applications and little is revealed about the way in which these classifications are constructed, or their ability to discriminate geographies of crime and disorder. The research presented in this thesis discusses critically both these issues. The research draws upon academic and policy literature on the geography of crime, environmental criminology and community safety policy, and describes the types of task undertaken by community safety analysts. Existing knowledge about the causes and motivations for crime are used to select variables from new national and local sources. The final partition was created using the fuzzy c-means clustering technique, but alternative techniques were also employed and levels of agreement between the different results were measured. The design process also involved measuring the ability of different partitions to discriminate neighbourhood crime rates. Numeric comparisons were made between the LCCS and existing general purpose classifications, and these show that the task-specific approach was better overall at discriminating crime rates. Practical applications of the LCCS are also demonstrated using recorded crime data for criminal damage and domestic burglary. Furthermore, variations in response to burglary target hardening are analysed using the LCCS, and the cost benefit to neighbourhoods of different types is shown. These practical demonstrations of the LCCS go to reinforce the assertion that area classification can be useful, practical tool to aid in the analysis and understanding of spatial patterns of crime and disorder.

This thesis explores how individuals and households experience the places in which they live and examines the potential impact of those places on outcomes across a range of life careers. Residential neighbourhoods have been variously framed as sites of personal expression or alternatively as locations of multiple deprivation that limit the life chances of the local population. This thesis however, argues that the limited framework within which existing studies of housing and residential choice are developed provides only a partial account of the complex and multidimensional nature of the relationship people have with the places in which they live. It addresses this gap by drawing on a wide range of theoretical ideas and by moving away from the deficit model of housing that dominates much academic work. In doing so it opens up the subject to scrutiny from a variety of perspectives and lays bare the varied and competing influences on decisions about housing. Use of quantitative information in the form of detailed housing biographies addresses a gap in existing knowledge by placing housing decisions in the context of past experience and other life careers. The introduction of qualitative techniques to a discipline dominated to date by large scale surveys supplements this evidence with the rich, nuanced data of personal experience. Three key elements of housing practices are identified, demonstrating the extent to which they are inextricably interconnected with a range of other life careers. Despite the recent ascendency within geography of a relational sense of place at the expense of the territorial, both are seen to be important. Savage et al’s (2005) concept of elective belonging is clearly identified as residents construct a narrative of fit between self and neighbourhood. Multiple strategies of social distinction are observed, each of which serves to transform the house and the neighbourhood into a home. Secondly notions of community remain an essential element of residents’ sense of belonging to their neighbourhood. The research reveals highly focussed personal networks that serve to produce and sustain location specific capital. An un-reflexive immobility is the result, where settled households perceive little need to consider residential alternatives. Finally, the physical and social infrastructure provided by the neighbourhood is identified as an important means of mediating the demands of home, work and childrearing. As such women, as primary care-givers, show greater investment than male partners in the ‘right’ residential choice. The thesis reveals liveable place to be complex and multifaceted, difficult to reduce to a simple economic or social variable. Whilst there are constant characteristics which appeal across the social scale, it highlights divergent experiences according to class, gender and life course stage. Choices and outcomes are embedded in social structures so that the research demonstrates the on-going impact of liveable place in the accumulation of social, cultural and economic capital to those who live there. Whilst liveable place is seen to mean different things according to class, gender and age, those trapped in neighbourhoods they do not consider liveable are potentially excluded from this accumulation.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Apr. 25, 2008). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of a Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science." Discipline: Political Science; Department/School: Political Science.