The built environment, spatial scale, and social networks: Do land uses matter for personal network structure?

Abstract

In this study, we examine how different features of the built environment -density, diversity of land uses, and design -have consequences for personal networks. We also consider whether different features of the built environment have consequences for the spatial location of persons to whom one is tied by considering their distribution in local area, broader city region, and a more macro spatial scale. We test these ideas with a large sample of the Western United States for three different types of ties. Our findings suggest that the built environment is crucial for personal network structure, both in the number of social ties and where they are located.Keywords: neighborhoods, social networks, spatial effects, built environment, land use 3 Bio Adam Boessen is an Assistant Professor in the department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. His primary research interests include neighborhoods and crime, geography and space, and social networks.John R. Hipp is a Professor in the departments of Criminology, Law and Society, and Sociology, at the University of California Irvine. His research interests focus on how neighborhoods change over time, how that change both affects and is affected by neighborhood crime, and the role networks and institutions play in that change. He approaches these questions using quantitative methods as well as social network analysis. He has published substantive

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Integrating social networks and spatial analyses of the built environment

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