Life in Poverty Neighbourhoods by Jürgen Friedrichs George Galster Sako Musterd

Author:Jürgen Friedrichs, George Galster, Sako Musterd [Jürgen Friedrichs, George Galster, Sako Musterd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Human Geography, Sociology, Urban
ISBN: 9781317999089
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2013-09-13T04:00:00+00:00

Conclusions and Evaluation

On the basis of the findings reported in this paper, it appears that in general the neighbourhood plays a limited part in the life of the residents; a majority of all residents, both the old and the new, undertake most of their activities outside their own neighbourhood. This includes, for example, shopping trips and visits to recreational facilities, but also visits to friends and relatives. The idea that urban restructuring is a positive influence for the neighbourhood in terms of more expenditure in local outlets, must therefore be treated with caution (although spending on daily shopping in the Staatslieden neighbourhood did indeed rise after the intervention). A positive influence in terms of increasing and intensive social contacts between the old and new inhabitants of the neighbourhoods also did not happen: people in the neighbourhoods seem to live alongside each other, not together. On the basis of the literature cited earlier in this paper, this outcome was not so very surprising: people like to live together with those who are ‘like them’ and if this is not the case, the interest in each other is not very easily generated, let alone sustained.

This is not to say that the restructuring interventions were pointless. They brought about the renovation of the neighbourhoods and changed the composition of the population. These changes have their repercussions on the atmosphere within a residential area.

In addition to the provision of facilities and services, restructuring can also influence social integration by directing measures to a certain target group. When, for example, a large share of the new housing stock is intended for the elderly, the social contacts of these households seem to become particularly limited to the new construction area; there is hardly any sign of interaction with the rest of the neighbourhood. In a residents' group which consists to a large extent of young families with children, mutual contacts are indeed observed; parents meet each other on the street or the school playground. The assumption that residents with the same background get on more easily with each other than households who have nothing in common is thus again confirmed.

Although the neighbourhood plays a limited part in the life of most residents, urban restructuring can positively influence the impression a neighbourhood gives and the involvement in a residential area. Moreover, it should always be kept in mind that restructuring serves some other functions. It can be of utmost importance to improve the structure of the housing stock in cases where the dwellings have a low to very absolute quality. Moreover, in some areas some dwellings may not be wanted anymore with a high vacancy rate as a consequence. Finally, urban restructuring can lead to new opportunities for making a housing career within the city or even within the neighbourhood. The ultimate goal of urban restructuring is not social cohesion, but, as has been stated earlier in this paper, to restructure the physical environment in order to contribute to social and economic vitality of the city as a whole.

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