This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lelieveldt, H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Helping Citizens Help Themselves

Neighborhood Improvement Programs and the Impact of Social Networks, Trust, and Norms on Neighborhood-Oriented Forms of Participation

University of Twente, the Netherlands

This article analyzes the relationship between social capital and neighborhood-oriented forms of participation within the context of an innovative Dutch neighborhood improvement program. On the basis of a survey among 307 residents, the author studies the link between three dimensions of social capital (neighborliness, trust in neighbors, and sense of duty) and three neighborhood oriented forms of participation: informal governance, the conversion of specific neighborhood problems into action, and participation in the program. Neighborliness and a sense of duty are positively related to the various forms of participation, whereas the impact of trust is somewhat more ambiguous. A subsequent analysis of the residents’ proposals shows that although some of them explicitly refer to the importance of social capital, the bulk of their plans simply demand resources (money, personnel, or policies) to address concrete issues. The author concludes that social capital is an important facilitator of people’s capacity to prevent and solve such problems themselves but that at the same time a whole range of problems still needs to be addressed through direct governmental action.

Key Words: political participation • civic participation • social capital • urban politics • neighborhood improvement programs

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Leonard Social and Subcultural Capital Among Teenagers in Northern Ireland Youth Society, December 1, 2008; 40(2): 224 - 244. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Filipovic Influences on the Sense of Neighborhood: Case of Slovenia Urban Affairs Review, May 1, 2008; 43(5): 718 - 732. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Kleinhans, H. Priemus, and G. Engbersen Understanding Social Capital in Recently Restructured Urban Neighbourhoods: Two Case Studies in Rotterdam Urban Stud, May 1, 2007; 44(5-6): 1069 - 1091. [Abstract] [PDF]

				B. Denters and K. Mossberger Building Blocks for a Methodology for Comparative Urban Political Research Urban Affairs Review, March 1, 2006; 41(4): 550 - 571. [Abstract] [PDF]