Community gardens and happy communities

Aims and method:

Discusses the role of community gardens in building healthy and sustainable communities. The research took a single case study, a large high-rise public housing estate in Sydney, and adopted a qualitative methodology to understand the impact on residents of a new community garden. 

Key findings:

· Resulted in a broad range of positive physical and psychological well-being outcomes including opportunities for individuals to relax, undertake physical activity, socialise and mix with neighbours, sharing across culturally different backgrounds and religions.

· The gardens also afforded opportunities to learn about horticulture and sustainable environmental practices, such as composting and recycling, as well as being an important source of low-cost fresh produce for a healthy diet.

· Community gardens can play a significant role in enhancing the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being necessary to build healthy and socially sustainable communities.

Reference:

Thompson, S., Corkery, L., & Judd, B. (2007). The role of community gardens in sustaining healthy communities. In Paper to be presented at the Third State of Australian Cities Conference, Adelaide.

http://apo.org.au/node/60295

The social value of public spaces

Aims and method:

Explores how people use both traditional and new public spaces, and how these places function, successfully (or not). The report summarises a range of discrete projects on the subject as part of a larger Joseph Ronwntree Foundation funded programme.

Key findings:

· Public spaces (including high streets, street markets, shopping precincts, community centres, parks, playgrounds, and neighbourhood spaces in residential areas) play a vital role in the social life of communities.

· They act as a ‘self-organising public service’, the social advantages of which may not be obvious to outsiders or public policy-makers.

· Public spaces offer many benefits: the ‘feel-good’ buzz from being part of a busy street scene; the therapeutic benefits of quiet time spent on a park bench; places where people can display their culture and identities and learn awareness of diversity and difference; opportunities for children and young people to meet, play or simply ‘hang out’.

· Some groups may be self-segregating in their use of different public spaces at different times, with social norms affecting how and whether people engage with others.

· Public spaces are a particular and distinct resource for young people looking to socialise with others. However, groups of young people are sometimes perceived as having antisocial intentions, which in many cases is simply not true.

· The majority of public spaces that people use are local spaces they visit regularly, often quite banal in design, or untidy in their activities or functions (such as street markets and car boot sales), but which retain important social functions.

· Too great an emphasis on crime and safety in public spaces may deprive them of their historic role as a place where differences of lifestyles and behaviour are tolerated and co-exist.

Reference:

Worpole, K., & Knox, K. (2008). The social value of public spaces, Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/social-value-public-spaces

Social sustainability and urban form

Aims and method:

Considers the relationship between urban form and aspects of the social sustainability of communities, in the context of existing medium-sized British cities. Based on household surveys linked to neighbourhood physical, map-based, and socio-demographic data. Statistical models are developed to account for systematic variations in the main social sustainability outcomes.

Key findings:

· Outcomes relating to neighbourhood pride and attachment, stability, safety, environmental quality, and home satisfaction all display a negative, nonlinear relationship with density.

· The outcomes with the strongest negative relationship with density are home satisfaction and safety, both important factors influencing residential location choices, suggesting that housing-market choices are still likely to favour lower density options where available

· Outcomes relating to social interaction and group participation tend to improve as density rises up to a medium level, around 100 – 140 DPM (net), and then fall off at higher levels.

· Outcomes relating to the use of local services are positively related to density and contributes to greater sustainability in terms of travel and transport, which itself displays a similar pattern over density.

· These findings indicate that compact cities are not `win-win' on all dimensions of sustainability and that reductions in transport emissions will have to be weighed against social criteria.

Reference:

Bramley, G., Dempsey, N., Power, S., Brown, C., & Watkins, D. (2009). Social sustainability and urban form: evidence from five British cities. Environment and Planning A, 41(9), 2125-2142.

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/a4184

Public support for street-scale urban design practices

Aims and method:

Examines how different groups are supporting local design actions and how local design effects physical activity. Analysis is based on a cross-sectional national sample of adults (n = 4682) participating in the USA.

Key findings:

· 57% of adults rated local street design as highly important in determining the amount of physical activity they obtain.

· Adjusted odds of rating neighbourhood features as having high importance were higher in people aged less than 65 years versus those more than 65 and minority racial/ethnic groups versus non-Hispanic whites.

· Two-thirds of adults were willing to take civic action to support local street-scale urban design policy.

Reference:

Carlson, S. A., Guide, R., Schmid, T. L., Moore, L. V., Barradas, D. T., & Fulton, J. E. (2011). Public support for street-scale urban design practices and policies to increase physical activity. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 8(s1), S125-S134.

http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/jpah.8.s1.s125

Social housing and resident satisfaction

Aims and method:

Investigates the reality of social exclusion on housing estates in three diverse settings, with different social and economic conditions common in post-industrial Britain. The research was based on a series of discussion groups with residents, interviews with service providers and extended (three-day) community workshops, one on each estate.

Key findings:

· People feel they are judged by the quality of their housing environment.

· The morale of estate residents is boosted considerably by estate modernisation.

· The quality of the physical environment is key to building social capital and encouraging a strong stable community

Reference:

Page, D. (2000). Communities in the balance: The reality of social exclusion on housing estates. YPS for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/communities-balance-reality-social-exclusion-housing-estates

Neighbourhood qualities and social participation

Aims and method:

Investigates the relationship between perceptions of neighbourhood user-friendliness and social participation while controlling for personal characteristics in a sample of seniors living in an urban environment. A convenience sample of older adults (n = 282) was recruited through community organisations located in high- average- and low-income neighbourhoods in Montreal (Canada). Data was collected via an interviewer-administered questionnaire assessing social participation and various variables at the neighbourhood level and at the individual-level.

Key findings:

· Five variables emerged as independent predictors of social participation.

· Positive predictors included frequent walking episodes (almost every day), higher vitality and general health, and perceived accessibility to key resources for older adults. Also included was a negative predictor: age.

· Critical to achieving this are perceptions of neighbourhood user-friendliness.

Reference:

Richard, L., Gauvin, L., Gosselin, C. & LaForest, S. (2009). Staying connected: neighbourhood correlates of social participation among older adults living in an urban environment in Montréal, Québec. Health Promotion International, 24(1), 46-57.

https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/24/1/46/677467/Staying-connected-neighbourhood-correlates-of

Designing for mixed income communities

Aims and method:

Considers the issue of social mixing and design within developments. In particular, the concept of ‘tenure blind’ development is critically investigated with regard to three mature case studies, combining design analysis with social research.

Key findings:

· Where residents are required to encounter each other in the public realm, literally by ‘bumping into each other’, then there is some evidence of social interaction and mutual recognition.

· Successful mixed income new communities can be produced without recourse to an emerging design orthodoxy of ‘pepper potting’. Even if the design and layout does not conform to an ideal notion of tenure blind development

· Provided that the layout draws on established principles of urban design and no stigma can be attached to the social housing through its visual appearance, then a degree of social interaction between different income groups is facilitated and resident satisfaction levels are high.

· These observations suggest that a flexible approach to layout and design may be taken in the development of mixed income new communities that can be adapted to the circumstances of the development process.

Reference:

Roberts, M. (2007). Sharing space: Urban design and social mixing in mixed income new communities. Planning Theory & Practice, 8(2), 183-204.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14649350701324417

Cul-de-sacs and social cohesion

Aims and method:

Assesses differences in residential social cohesion for residents of “bulb” cul-de-sacs, “dead-end” cul-de-sacs, and through streets in Connecticut (USA). The study utilised qualitative interview techniques to gauge the opinions of residents in 12 cases of each street type, with factors of location, socio-economic context, street length, and so forth controlled for. Two forms of residential social cohesion were measured with the collected data: attitudinal and behavioural.

Key findings:

· Cul-de-sac residents are more neighbourly than residents of other street types

· Bulb residents experienced the highest levels of attitudinal and behavioural cohesion, followed by dead-ends, then through streets

· The distinctive- ness of living “around the circle” of the bulb, as well as the additional space for social activities, promotes a sense of solidarity among these households

Reference:

Hochschild, T. (2015). The Cul-de-sac Effect: Relationship between Street Design and Residential Social Cohesion, Journal of Urban Planning & Development, 141(1), 1-6

http://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/%28ASCE%29UP.1943-5444.0000192

Sociability of Masterplanned communities for ageing

Aims and method:

Explores the ‘community development aspirations of masterplannned communities built for ageing residents.  The analysis is based on observations and semi-structured interviews with 40 people over 64 years of age living in seven masterplanned developments located in the city of Gold Coast, Australia

Key findings:

· Increased safety, walkability, accessibility and the provision of soft edges within developments play a significant role in the social health of the older aged residents

· Accessibility to ‘third places’ was fundamental to the continued participation of older people within their community

· Segregation of masterplanned communities behind gates or in isolated areas led to higher levels of segregation for residents

Reference:

Alidoust, S. &  Bowman, C. (2017) Master planned communities for ageing populations.  How sociable are they? Cities & Health 1(1): 38-46

https://dpi.org/10.1080/23748834.2017.1393242 

Well-being and high-rise living

Aims and method:

Explores the relationship between high-rise living and the social and psychological impact on residents. Utilises a systematic review of the evidence to draw conclusions about what is known and unknown about the relationship

Key findings:

· The consequences of living in high-rise buildings are many. A few may be caused by the building form itself, but many are moderated by non-architectural social factors

· Many, but by no means all, residents are more satisfied by low-rise than by high-rise housing.

· High rises are more satisfactory for residents when they are more expensive, located in better neighbourhoods, and residents chose to live in them.

· Children are better off in low-rise housing; high rises either restrict their outdoor activity or leave them relatively unsupervised outdoors, which may be why children who live in high rises have, on average, more behaviour problems.

· Residents of high-rises probably have fewer friendships in the buildings, and certainly help each other less.

· Crime and fear of crime probably are greater in high-rise buildings.

· A small proportion of suicides may be attributable to living in high rises.

Reference:

Gifford, R., (2007) The Consequences of Living in High-Rise Buildings, Architectural Science Review, 50(1), 2-17

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3763/asre.2007.5002?needAccess=true

Beauty and community satisfaction

Aims and method:

Examines the effects of urban beauty on community satisfaction. The research used a large survey of 28,000 people across the USA focussing on the satisfaction felt by communities with their community. Ordinary least-squares, ordered logit, and multinomial logit techniques were used to interrogate the data which also included questions relating to a respondent’s perception of beauty and aesthetics in his or her community.

Key findings:

· Beauty is significantly associated with community satisfaction (alongside other significant factors including economic security, better schools, and social interaction).

· Beauty and aesthetics are among the most important set of factors in perceived community satisfaction, but are consistently under-appreciated

Reference:

Florida, R., Mellander, C. & Stolarick, K. (2011) Beautiful Places: The Role of Perceived Aesthetic Beauty in Community Satisfaction, Regional Studies, 45(1), 33-48

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00343404.2010.486784?needAccess=true

Urban form and social relationships

Aims and method:

Investigates how the urban form affects social life and personal relationships by applying structural equation models to survey data collected in Oslo metropolitan area. The study uses data collected through a questionnaire survey and 10 qualitative in-depth interviews, both conducted in 2016. The survey covered 45 neighbourhoods in total, within various central and suburban locations.

Key findings:

· The built environment can influence social well-being.

· Residents of compact neighbourhoods are significantly more satisfied with their personal relationships compared with residents of low-density suburban neighbourhoods.

· Shorter distances to the city centre, higher densities, and mixed land uses are found to positively contribute to overall social well-being.

· Compact urban forms enable residents to maintain larger networks of close relationships, socialise more frequently with friends and family, receive stronger social support, and enjoy increased opportunities to make new acquaintances.

· ‘Third places’ increase opportunities to meet new people.

Reference:

Mouratidis, K. (2017) Built environment and social well-being: How does urban form affect social life and personal relationships?, Cities, in press

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275117306236

Perceptions of Place Quality in Station Areas

Aims and method:

Drawing on data from a survey of 452 users of the Amsterdam Central Station area in the Netherlands, the relative importance of three value perspectives (node, place, and experience) on place quality were assessed through exploratory factor analysis. Seven quality factors were identified. Furthermore, relationships between socio-demographic characteristics and quality perceptions were simultaneously analysed using a path analysis.

Key findings:

·      Seven quality factors were identified as closely associated with place quality at station areas: wayfinding, transfer, shopping, basic needs and safety, advanced services (e.g. entertainment and social activities), land use & architecture, and art & decoration. 

·      Senior citizens attach a higher importance to basic needs and safety and advanced services, while women find wayfinding particularly important. 

Reference:

Du, J., Druta, O., van den Berg, P., & van Wesemael, P. J. V. (2021). How Do Socio-Demographic Characteristics Affect Users’ Perception of Place Quality at Station Areas? Evidence from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Urban Science, 5(4), 80. 

https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/5/4/80