Freedom from the Tyranny of Neighbourhood

Freedom from the Tyranny of Neighbourhood: Rethinking Socio-Spatial Context Effects

Petrović, A. (TU Delft OLD Urban Renewal and Housing)
Manley, D.J. (University of Bristol)
van Ham, M. (TU Delft OLD Urban Renewal and Housing; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA))

2018-03

Theory behind neighbourhood effects suggests that different geographies and scales affect individual outcomes. We argue that neighbourhood effects research needs to break away from the tyranny of neighbourhood and consider alternative ways to measure the wider socio-spatial context of people, placing individuals at the centre of the approach. We review theoretical and empirical approaches to place and space from a multitude of disciplines and the geographical scopes of neighbourhood effects mechanisms. Ultimately, we suggest ways in which micro-geographic data can be used to operationalise socio-spatial context for neighbourhood effects, where data pragmatism should be supplanted by a theory-driven data exploration.Unexpectedly, children who lived in an affluent neighbor-hood throughout childhood were most likely to engage in delinquent behavior.

neighbourhood effects
socio-spatial context
micro-geographic data
bespoke neighbourhoods
spatial scale

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:424b3178-8613-4f22-a53c-7d0ba7fecdef

Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit/ Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn

IZA Discussion Paper No. 11416

Institutional Repository

working paper

© 2018 A. Petrović, D.J. Manley, M. van Ham