Neighbourhood reputations, moving behaviour and neighbourhood dynamics

Abstract

This chapter focuses on neighbourhood reputations as a factor in understanding neighbourhood dynamics. The reputation of a neighbourhood is thought to affect selective inflow and outflow of residents, which might result in stable neighbourhood characteristics, or in gradual or rapid neighbourhood change. The neighbourhood effects literature places great importance on neighbourhood reputations as it is hypothesized that through stigmatisation, living in a neighbourhood with a poor reputation might reflect on the individuals living there, and can reduce their ability to, for example, get a job, or lead to lower self-esteem. Poor neighbourhood reputations might also be a problem in neighbourhood renewal, where although a neighbourhood has received major investments and major changes in the social and physical structures have been made, the neighbourhood still suffers from a poor reputation for historical reasons, reducing the effect of urban renewal because more affluent city residents do not consider living in these places. Using data from the Netherlands, this chapter shows that a negative perception of neighbourhood reputation increases the probability that residents will express an intention to leave the neighbourhood. This result holds even when people are satisfied with their current neighbourhood. The results suggest that for neighbourhood regeneration to be successful, it is important to change the image of the neighbourhood, to make it more attractive for other city residents.