Ray Forrest

Social Cohesion, Social Capital and the Neighbourhood

In current theoretical and policy debates concerning social cohesion, the neighbourhood has re-emerged as an important setting for many of the processes which supposedly shape social identity and life-chances. It is in this context of a renewal of interest in local social relations and particularly the deployment of notions of social capital that this paper offers a critical review of a wide-ranging literature. The paper explores initially and briefly the idea that societies face a new crisis of social cohesion and outlines the key dimensions of societal cohesion. The core of the paper is then devoted to an examination of where the contemporary residential neighbourhood fits into these wider debates, particularly in relation to the interaction between social cohesion and social capital. In this context, some of the key debates around the concept of social capital are outlined. In moving beyond abstraction, the paper also shows how social capital can be broken down into relevant domains for policy action at the neighbourhood level and how concepts such as social cohesion and social capital can be operationalised for research purposes.

Social Cohesion and Multilevel Urban Governance

Much has been written about cities in the information age, most of it either positively visionary or, conversely, apocalyptic in nature. In an echo of concerns raised by early sociologists about the effects of rapid urbanisation a century ago, urban theorists have been pessimistic of late. New pressures of the informational age, the global economy and a new competitively oriented social policy and welfare state are said to be bearing down on cities and neighbourhoods to produce a new crisis of social cohesion. Reich (1991) argues that in the past there was a greater correspondence between the interests of economic élites and the masses at the local level, when loyalty to one’s city and public investment in it corresponded with selfinterest and was expected to bring eventual rewards to all. Now, however, he goes on to ask whether the

Selling the welfare state : the privatisation of public housing

1. Introduction: Privatisation and Housing 2. Council Housing - Historical Roots and Contemporary Issues 3. The Political Debate 4. Welfare Housing for Marginal Groups? 5. Financial and Electoral Aspects of Housing Privatisation 6. The Spatial and Social Pattern of Council House Sales 7. The Polarised City 8. Contextualising the Sale of Council Housing 9. Radical Centralism and Local Resistance 10. Rights to Buy and Beyond 11. Selling Whose Welfare? - Polarisation and Privatisation

Residualization and Council Housing: Aspects of the Changing Social Relations of Housing Tenure

It is commonly argued that council housing in Britain is becoming a residual service. This paper explores the various dimensions of residualization such as the size of the council house sector, the quality of the service, the characteristics of tenants and the nature of the stock. Whilst changes in these areas are significant it is suggested that we must look beyond housing processes to fully understand the downgrading of council housing. Specifically it is argued that explanations must take account of questions of economic and political powerlessness, the marginalization of certain sections of the working class from the labour market and the uneven impact of the recession.

Hong Kong as a global city? Social distance and spatial differentiation

This paper draws on on-going work on Hong Kongs socio-spatial structure to explore the extent to which it fits the dominant image of the global city. While there is a considerable literature on Hong Kongs changing social structure, there is relatively little on the spatial dimensions of social difference and division. The paper situates the available commentaries and analyses of Hong Kongs income, class and employment structure within the global cities debates. It then analyses census data at the tertiary planning unit level (TPU) to explore the spatial dimensions of social distance in Hong Kong. The conclusion focuses on the distinctive mediations which have shaped the socio-spatial structure of the territory. The integrative role of public housing is argued to be of particular importance in this context.

The financialisation of the social project: Embedded liberalism, neoliberalism and home ownership

This paper argues that the relentless logic of commodification has served to undermine a key element of the social cement of contemporary capitalism: home ownership. In addressing this issue, the paper explores the development of the post war ‘social project’ of home ownership with particular reference to mature home ownership societies such as the USA, Japan, Britain and Australia. The paper then outlines the new fault lines and fractures which have emerged in post-crisis home ownership systems and the way in which a more vigorous, financialised private landlordism has emerged from the debris of the subprime meltdown. A key argument is that in a new and more intensified process of housing commodification, the social project promise of home ownership for a previous generation has shifted to a promise of private landlordism for current generations. In summary, the social project of Keynesian-embedded liberalism has been undermined by the economic project of neoliberalism.

Home ownership in recession

Abstract Since 1989, the home ownership sector in Britain has experienced a number of changes which would have been dismissed in advance as unlikely. Falling levels of transactions, falling house prices and falling new construction have been accompanied by rising mortgage arrears, rising repossessions and the emergence of home owners with negative equity. The impact of these changes on the wider economy has also contributed to a reassessment of home ownership. This paper outlines the key changes which have affected the home ownership sector in Britain and considers whether these changes are affecting attitudes to home ownership and state intervention to sustain the tenure. It also argues that the changes have been of sufficient duration to be regarded as more than a short‐term ‘blip’ and demonstrate the need to review some accounts of the tenure.

Neighbourhood and Neighbouring in Contemporary Guangzhou

There is now a substantial literature on various aspects of contemporary Chinese urbanization. There are, however, few recent studies of Chinese cities which examine social change and social interaction at the level of the urban neighbourhood. This paper seeks to fill some of this gap in current knowledge. It draws on a social survey of three contrasting neighbourhoods undertaken in Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta, one of the most economically dynamic and rapidly urbanizing areas in the world. The paper explores inter alia the meaning of neighbourhood, sense of local belonging and community, and patterns and incidence of mutual assistance. The paper reflects on the extent to which market reforms are transforming patterns of local social interaction.

Spatial Mobility, Tenure Mobility, and Emerging Social Divisions in the UK Housing Market

The aim in this paper is to contribute to current debates on emerging social divisions in the British housing market. Debates on the residualisation of council housing, differentiation within homeownership, and housing tenure polarisation are discussed. A particular concern is the development of a more processual account of the shaping of housing histories of different groups at different points in the income and social structure and the linking of debates within housing to broader accounts of the changing structure of British society.

The Geography of Council House Sales in England — 1979-85

Analyses of the social, economic and spatial consequences of council house sales have tended to rely on local case study evidence or limited official statistics at the national level. This paper seeks to provide more systematic evidence for England as a whole. Sales which were completed between 1979 and 1985 are mapped by local authority to indicate the uneven geography of the privatisation of council housing in England. Statistical analyses of key variables are then used to draw out some of the factors at work contributing to high and low levels of sales. One of the principle conclusions is that sale of council houses is leading to a greater unevenness in the national pattern of housing tenure.