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Univ.-Prof. Dr. Richard Lang, Privatdozent
title | Cooperative Housing and Social Cohesion: The Role of Linking Social Capital |
type | article in journal with citation index (peer reviewed) |
texts | abstract: The article examines the role of housing cooperatives for social cohesion in the city by introducing linking social capital which grasps the vertical dimension of social capital. Housing cooperatives represent a crucial intermediate level between residents and urban housing policy, thus providing opportunity structures for bottom-linked citizen participation. Drawing on the case of Vienna, a large-scale household survey and interviews with key informants provide empirical evidence on the importance of a form of social capital which links actors at different levels in the spatial hierarchy: residents, housing managers and political decision-makers. The findings add to our understanding of the opportunities and problems with resident participation in a policy field structured by multi-level governance. Our two-level analysis shows that the dominant model of governance, top-down as well as neoliberal, has structurally limited the room for participatory practices in cooperative housing. Nevertheless, we argue that professional housing cooperatives have a potential to give residents a voice beyond the neighbourhood. Their strong linkages with public decision-makers at different scales can help leverage ideas and resources of residents. |
authors | Lang Richard Andreas Novy |
date | 2014 |
DOI | 10.1080/09654313.2013.800025 |
published in | title: European Planning Studies |
volume/issue | 22 (8) |
pages | 1744–1764 |
language | English |