From neighbourhood to network: a review of the significance of neighbourhood in studies of social relations

This article reviews changing approaches to the idea of neighbourhood communities in social science research. It specifically considers the implications for thinking about the neighbourhood either as the settings where social relations and communal bonds are produced or as non-geographical networks. There is a long history of territorial-based community studies that have focused on everyday life in neighbourhood locations; most typically, working-class urban neighbourhoods or edge-of-city housing estates. Research exploring networked communities in contrast considers ways in which individuals are caught up in webs of networked organisations and individuals that stretch across space and seemingly render place less relevant to community formation. The review outlines some for the challenges of these approaches to the idea of community and cautions against dismissing the significance of neighbourhood in the ways in which individuals construct communities of networks, contacts and relations with others.