"The Connected City"

Professor Hayden shared a timely article with us concerning the topic of our class discussion last week: networks. In an interview with “Atlantic Cities”, sociologist Zachary Neal discusses his new book, “The Connected City”, in which he argues that cities aren’t simply places, rather, they’re made up of human networks. What define a community, Neil argues, are the relationships that its inhabitants develop with one another. Similarly, in her essay entitled “Networks: Emerging Frameworks for Analysis”, Amelia H. Arsenault states, “network nodes are linked according to associations” which may manifest itself as  “interpersonal interactions” or “flows of information between and within groups”.

Neal goes on to say that neighborhoods without interactions among its residents are not communities. Communities aren’t necessarily rooted in particular places, for example,  “a book club with a constantly changing venue.” Within networks, physical distance can take a backseat to spacial relations created and maintained by communication. In “Topologies of Communication”, Paul Adams proposes thinking of the world in terms of “topologies—structures of link and nodes—rather than locations”. In this way, we can consider networks as communities that transcend the boundaries of physical location. Still, Neal warns us not to ignore the significance of distance, since it exists in three ways in a city—network, spatial, and social.  He describes network distance as the number of links between two people, or how some people are closer to those in their networks while other people are further apart. The shorter the spatial distance between two people, the more likely they are to interact with one another. Social distance is the tendency for people to associate with those who share similar interests. Therefore, if two people live near one another (spatial distance), and/or share similar hobbies (social distance), they are more likely to intermingle with each other, or have mutual friends (network distance).

In terms of cities, the way it’s designed can facilitate the networks that develop. The proximity of houses, or gated communities, the structure of roads and highways, the placement of schools and parks, and so on and so forth, can determine who interacts with whom. A city’s street network shapes the distribution, circulation, and flow of people. Although Neal’s book focuses on analyzing urban networks on micro, meso, and macro level, his evaluation of social networks from the individual and communal level is relevant to our readings and class discussions.

Article: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/10/communities-arent-places-theyre-social-networks/3492/#