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“Us Up Here and Them Down There”: How Design, Management, and Neighborhood Facilities Shape Social Distance in a Mixed-Tenure Housing Development
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Anouk Tersteeg
Homepage: http://www.uu.nl/staff/AKTersteeg
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| Fenne Pinkster
Homepage: http://www.uva.nl/over-de-uva/organisatie/medewerkers/content/p/i/f.m.pinkster/f.m.pinkster
Despite the fact that social
mix is an essential component of urban policies in Western Europe, it remains
unclear at what spatial scale housing diversification programs may be most
effective. When people with different backgrounds, household compositions, and
lifestyles live in close proximity to one another, the emergence of close
social ties is not always guaranteed. On the one hand, living in socially mixed environments may
create bridges between residents of different social positions. On the other
hand, it can lead to processes of social distancing and reproduce negative
stereotypes. This article explores how
these diverging experiences of social closeness or distance may relate to
place-specific factors that mediate everyday encounters and interactions such
as housing design, management practices and the nature of local facilities and
amenities.
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