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The unexpected impact of neighborhood design on civic engagement
Participation in official governmental institutions and activities has declined dramatically. Americans are less inclined to express trust in, or cooperate with, political leaders and each other to address society's most pressing problems. In Neighborhoods Matter, Carrie LeVan explores this growing crisis in civic engagement, arguing that where we live –and the people who live around us– may be to blame.
Drawing on national surveys, census data, and spatial analysis, LeVan demonstrates how neighborhood design can dramatically impact political participation, including people's desire and ability to vote in local, state, and national elections. She argues that the suburbs, which isolate residents, require driving, and are zoned for single-use, do not provide an effective infrastructure for civic engagement. However, cities, which are often designed to be walkable, more interactive, and are zoned for mixed-use, provide a supportive environment where people and politics can thrive.
Ultimately, LeVan underscores how neighborhoods that support interaction, competition, collective action—and even conflict—can support greater civic engagement and political participation. Neighborhoods Matter highlights the connection between politics, people, and place, calling for good suburban and urban design that can support a vibrant and engaging civic life.
"In Neighborhoods Matter, LeVan reveals how the built environment structures unequal access to political participation. She shows that neighborhood design can either constrain or activate civic engagement, especially in racially diverse communities where every day social contact is central to political voice. This is a timely and incisive contribution to scholarship on race, place, and democratic voice. This book will be essential reading for scholars of political participation, urban politics, and inequality, as well as for planners and policymakers concerned with building more inclusive democratic communities."
"Today, many Americans dream of living in vibrant, cohesive communities. LeVan shows that pedestrian-focused neighborhood design, as opposed to car-focused suburban enclaves, boosts civic engagement and voting for residents. Combining decades of survey data with new measures of what hundreds of neighborhoods actually look like today, LeVan demonstrates that places where interaction and connection between neighbors are more likely, and even if economic opportunities are scarce, see much higher rates of political participation among otherwise marginalized groups. LeVan therefore complicates simple narratives of housing, class, and civic participation, illuminating the ways in which the dream of suburban home ownership, and the more recent phenomenon of gentrification, can undermine political involvement. Neighborhoods Matter is a must read for NIMBYs, YIMBYs, and all who want to build the engaged, connected neighborhoods so many of us long for."