Bounding Neighbourhoods: How do residents do it?

Abstract

The 'neighbourhood' holds an iconic position in planning, yet there has been long-standing empirical criticism and debates about both the use and intellectual underpinnings of the concept. Despite this, it continues to provide a focus for local area planning, local policy interventions and urban design approaches, including in 'new urbanism'. Neighbourhoods may be given physical dimensions so the boundaries that distinguish what is within and what is outside each neighbourhood can be defined. This paper asks what we can learn about such localities through a better understanding of how residents themselves actually identify these boundaries. It derives a series of questions that are addressed through analysis of resident perceptions of neighbourhood boundaries in an inner-city fringe suburb in Brisbane, Australia. The research confirmed many previous concerns about defining neighbourhood boundaries and that many residents were uncertain of the physical boundaries of their neighbourhood.