Social Capital in the City

Social Capital in the City is the first book to examine social capital across a broad array of social contexts and time periods within a single city, Philadelphia. The authors examine the role of social networks in voter behaviour, large-scale cultural projects, park advocacy, education, economic development, neighbourhood life, church participation, and political activism. The range of subjects covered reflects a concern for understanding the unique quality and diversity of social networks that exist within an urban area, and in doing so this book moves beyond typical definitions of social capital that rely on broad measures of civic participation used in surveys, that fail to tap into the more detailed and site-specific social networks that sustain the life of cities. Using case studies, the authors in this book demonstrate how social capital is nested in larger structures of power and therefore cannot be adequately understood without regard to context.