Social capital as a predictor of neighborhood satisfaction: an analysis of American Housing Survey national data

ABSTRACT

Social capital plays a critical role in neighborhood satisfaction, which in turn contributes to healthy and vibrant communities. However, scholars in housing and community development often leave social capital variables out of analyses. This study uses the American Housing Survey (AHS) 2013 national data, the only AHS data with social capital variables, to measure whether and how social capital dimensions relate to perceived livability of neighborhoods. The research controls for household characteristics, actual and perceived neighborhood and housing attributes, and locational variables. The study uses perceived livability as a proxy to measure the satisfaction levels of residents with their neighborhoods. Overall, citizen participation is weak, while social trust, cohesion, and ties within neighborhoods are strong among the survey respondents. Most of the social capital dimensions are significantly related to perceived neighborhood livability in a positive direction. The results indicate that stronger social capital contributes to higher perceived neighborhood livability. However, the effect of social capital is different among homeowners, renter, urban, and suburban/rural households. Therefore, the important roles of social capital in promoting neighborhood satisfaction and livability require policymakers to pay more attention to social capital factors in neighborhood needs assessment and community development practice.

KEYWORDS:

• American housing survey
• community social capital
• neighboring behavior
• neighborhood livability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yanmei Li

Yanmei Li is an associate professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida Atlantic University. Her research and teaching interests are housing policy, community development, planning methods, and the role of social capital in planning.

Sumei Zhang

Sumei Zhang is an associate professor in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville. Her research interests include regional economics, spatial statistics, mathematical modeling, and Geographical Information Systems, with a focus on its application in planning.