Perspectives of Neighborhood and Community: A Review of the Literature Robert J. Chaskin Perspectives of Neighborhood and Community: A Review of the Literature

Definitions of Community and Neighborhood

Community Implies connection; some combination of shared beliefs, circumstances, priorities, relationships, or concerns. The networks of concerns that bind individuals of a given group to one another as may or may not be rooted in place. Ethnic and religious communities and other communities of interest are connected by common interests, circumstances, priorities.

Community Cont’d Although local communities are place based, they are not seen simply geographically bounded subdivisions of land. They are units in which some set of connections is concentrated, either some connection (as in kin, friend, and acquaintance networks), functional connections(as in the production, consumption, and transfer of goods and services), or circumstantial connections (as in economic status or lifestyle).

Neighborhood Is clearly a spatial construction denoting a geographical unit in which residents share proximity and the circumstances that come with it. The neighborhood is a subunit of a larger area and is usually seen as primarily, if not exclusively residential. A neighborhood is a limited territory within a larger urban area where people inhabit dwellings and interact socially.

Understanding Neighborhoods and Communities – Kirst-Ashman and Hull

Definition of Community and Neighborhood

Community Traditional definition - Non-traditional definition – it incorporates what we have come to think of as non-place (or non-geographic) communities. e.g. the local community and social work-professional communities. These are know as “identificational communities”

Community Traditional communities have several common components. The first is shared physical space. A second component is social interaction That community members interact with each other differently that they interact with people outside the community. Third is the shared sense of identity.

Neighborhoods Neighborhoods share some of the same features as communities. A neighborhood is “a region whose inhabitants share certain characteristics, values, mutual interests, or styles of living. Typically, a community is composed of many neighborhoods. In each, the degree of neighborhoods. In each, the degree is often even greater than the sense of identity found in the larger community.

Functions of Communites Socialization, defined as the transmission of values, culture, beliefs, and norms to new members. Production, distributions and consumption of goods and services. Social control. Setting limits on behavior by creating and enforcing laws via police and other official bodies. Mutual support Participation of its residents- For example, through recreation, talking, church going an other forms of socialization.

Key Concepts for Understanding Communities Competition- seeking to have their interests and needs considered more important than others needs Centralization – The practice of clustering business services and institutions in one area of a city. Concentration – The tendency of certain groups ( particularly ethnic groups) to cluster in a particular section or neighborhood of a community.

Key Concepts cont’d Gentrification – A pattern whereby upper middle class families move back into downtown and nearby downtown residential areas, turning second floors of businesses into lofts and rehabilitating large older homes. Invasion – A tendency of each new group of immigrants to force out or replace existing groups previously living in a neighborhood. Succession – The replacement of the original occupants or residents of a community or neighborhood by new groups.

Functions of Neighborhood Institutional – These include employment, connecting new residents to older residents, proving access to specific services, and other wise helping neighborhood members integrate. Political – allowing members to become involve in the political process to influence elected and appointed decision makers. One of the ways neighborhoods create a balance of power in the larger community is through the use of neighborhood organizations. Economic – include provision of housing and places to shop.

Functions of Neighborhoods Arena for social interaction- a place where people feel comfortable and that they belong. Provision of mutual aid – resident can help out each other Provision of an arena for communication Assert social status through the choice of physical neighborhood Provision of an organizational and political base. Neighborhood residents may choose to join a neighborhood organization or center.