The new urban neighbor: Residential large urban developments and urban social relations

Abstract

Contemporary residential large urban developments have become a prominent mode of housing development in many cities. Recent studies portray new mechanisms through which social relations and communities are formed. Yet, an integrative multiscale analysis of the social mechanisms that emerge in contemporary housing environments is lacking. Using Bourdieu's social space theory, we examine the transformations in dwelling experience and neighborly relations that integrate a multiscale exploration of the vertical (towers) and the horizontal (complexes of towers), at the center of Israel. We argue that residential large urban developments pose new challenges for dwellers as well as give rise to a new kind of resident-neighbor, presenting a new array of socio-spatial behaviors, needs, expectations, and relations with the urban environment.