Describes an attempt to develop an instrument based on subjectively derived data, capable of assessing and classifying human communities according to social climate. The strengths of the scale are discussed as well as the types of data that might be collected to further test the instrument. (Author/SA)

Considers differing systems and variables used to distinguish city from city, and city from non-city. Reviews various approaches to urban description and classification, including those of novelists, social critics, and social scientists. Suggests that the uses of objective and subjective data are complementary rather than competing systems of…

Compared and described in this paper are past and present social and political factors which affect the composition, status, and cohesion of urban communities. (EB)

Inspired by the impact of an increase in tourism in the Old Center of Naples, Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable town development and encourages participation, has undertaken the participatory action research described in this article. The inhabitants' sense of community (McMillan & Chavis,…

In this study, the authors investigated community resilience from the perspectives of well-defined, geographically bounded neighbourhoods and in relation to factors within them that may mediate, either positively or negatively, child and youth health outcomes. Three socially contrasting neighbourhoods with heterogeneous child health outcomes were…

This investigation of the residential contiguity of socioeconomic status groups in the white and black population of the Chicago SMSA in 1970 is stated to show that although segregation indices between socioeconomic groups were comparable for whites and blacks, residential propinquity between high and low status persons differed dramatically…

Shows that there are at least two different perspectives from which residential segregation can be examined. Segregation can be measured as it deviates from a situation of complete desegregation or in terms of a situation in which there is random segregation in the city. New criteria for indexes of residential segregation are developed. (Author/JM)

This study used data from a random sample of African American families living in poor urban communities to examine: how well socialization, supervision, and marital transition hypotheses explained the relationship between family structure and the probability of sexual debut and pregnancy for African American adolescents in disadvantaged…

Patterns of functional and size differentiation among local organizations may be seen as the result of basic structural properties of the community. The principal goal of this paper is to examine certain conditions promoting differentiation on these dimensions. (Author/EB)

Collected data from four urban neighborhoods to explore whether citizen participation in urban governance was fostered by civic culture and local political institutions. Although citizen participation was least likely to occur in poor neighborhoods demonstrating lower educational attainment levels, such factors could be mitigated by political…

The history of an urban squatter settlement in Bogota, Colombia, and the author's experiences with its residents in the last ten years are summarized. Topics covered include the unfriendly relationship between the government and squatter settlements; the history of the relationship between the government and this particular barrio; the demography…

Focusing on the Community Action Program, an assessment was made of how much change has occurred in institutions which deal with the poor; what role CAP has played in realizing these changes, which CAP aspects or activities were related to institutional change; and community characteristics which might explain the changes or the role of CAP.…

This study is an evaluation of the effect of a newspaper antilitter campaign directed toward heavily littered areas within a community. Newspaper publicity can affect the amount of litter present by identifying troublesome areas and providing feedback about the areas. (Author/SA)

Recent American educational research focuses on the differences between urban and nonurban schools. Ideas such as "inner city" are taken as self-evident and are imposed as a way to achieve a more just and equitable national system of schooling. The urban environment is singled out as violent. This essay takes the position that the…

This study reports on eight projects funded by the Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) during 1977-1978 in seven districts in New Jersey and New York. The seven districts are described in terms of: (1) their demographic characteristics, such as racial/ethnic composition of the public schools, minority isolation, percentage of educationally or…