Our system of government is based upon the assumption of the territorial group as a unit. Modern means of communication and transportation have to a considerable extent nullified the significance of spatial proximity as a group bond. All the traditional forms of political and social organization are affected thereby. Wards and administrative districts of cities as a rule have no correlation with natural groupings of population. Thus the influence of local opinion in social control is minimized. City populations tend to segregate into territorial publics having similar attitudes on questions pertaining to the mores. Such similarity of attitude is not so pronounced on economic questions. Rehabilitation of neighborhood sentiment in a city is a difficult problem. Anything that tends to stabilize residence and give to the neighborhood a unitary character may serve to develop neighborhood consciousness.
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