Gradual Redevelopment Does Promote Community (E. Jaffe)

"Recently [sociologist Katherine] King put Jacobs's belief to an empirical test. A few studies of housing type and social relations have been done over the years: researchers have found that residents of townhouses or villas have higher social capital than those in apartments or flats; that even the position of doors and common spaces can influence social contact; and that older housing does seem to promote interaction. However the idea that gradual redevelopment improves social ties hasn't really been studied in a direct sense.

"It remains to be seen whether the diversity of forms created by gradual development in fact predicts better neighbourly social relations," writes King.

To address this gap in the literature, King studied surveys of Chicago neighborhoods that included measures of community relations. She established four metrics of social ties: cohesion (shared values), control (a belief that community works toward a collective good), inter-generational closure (adults looking after local youth), and reciprocal exchange (trading favors, advice, information, etc.). Then she matched this information with data on the "age diversity" of housing — a proxy for gradual redevelopment, since a mixture of building ages might represent neighborhood evolution.

The results showed quite clearly that a mixture of buildings indicated strong social ties. Mid-century housing age was significantly associated with all four types of social relations, while recent construction had a negative association with social control in particular. Once King controlled for other demographic factors, only housing "age diversity" kept its significant link with all four social metrics she measured.

King concludes:

Empirical results show significant links between housing age diversity (historical development pace) and four measures of neighbourly social relations, even when controlling for other neighbourhood housing features, social composition and individual sociodemographics. It may be that gradual redevelopment preserves community ties, which may take decades to form and which new residents may 'inherit' from previous neighbours."

Read the full article.

Jaffe, Eric (2013) "Jane Jacobs Was Right: Gradual Redevelopment Does Promote Community". In: The Atlantic Cities. Place Matters. http://www.theatlanticcities.com