neighbourhood effect

It is claimed that individuals are affected by the principles and standards of the neighbourhood in which they live, and that the social environment of the neighbourhood conditions people's behaviour. If the neighbourhood is very run-down, inhabitants may not treat it with respect while the peer pressure in a high-class residential district may encourage the residents to maintain their property. The concept is attacked by those who would argue that the neighbourhood is less important than other social and economic factors, and by those who believe that city populations are too mobile for true neighbourhoods to develop.

The term is used more precisely in political geography, where it is argued that people's voting choices are more influenced by the predominating partisan choice expressed in their neighbourhood than by their own individual characteristics. Using areal units of about 500 individuals (derived from the Geography Area Planning System), Tunstall et al. (Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 25) found evidence for the neighbourhood effect. See contextual effect.