[URBANTH-L]Is Diversity Bad for Cities? (Linda Dwyer)

[John McCreery]

Serendipitously, the July 2007 (No. 29) issue of Social Networks
includes an article by Marina Hennig, that provides a German
sociologist's perspective on the "Community Question" based on network
analysis of families in three German cities. The literature review
provides an excellent overview of what Hennig calls the Community
Lost, Community Saved, and Community Liberated positions that scholars
have taken on this question. Her conclusion is summarized in the
abstract as follows:

"Particular network types are not associated with low levels of social
relations. Moreover, structural factors do not explain the existence
of different network types. Thus, the networks are not a product of
only one community model. They suggest that it is less helpful to talk
about "Saved," "Lost," or "Liberated" communities than it is to regard
communities as a mixture of strongly-knit nuclear clusters and of
broader, sparesly-knit relations that provide access to different
groups and their resources."

Hope this is helpful.

-- 
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/