University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Fall 2011 Examining the Relationship Between Social Capital and the Built Environment: A Case Study in Measuring Community Sustainability Shannon H. Rogers University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Rogers, Shannon H., "Examining the Relationship Between Social Capital and the Built Environment: A Case Study in Measuring Community Sustainability" (2011).edu/dissertation/621 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact Scholarly.
Examining the Relationship Between Social Capital and the Built Environment: A Case Study in Measuring Community Sustainabihty BY Shannon H. Rogers BA, Dartmouth College, 2004 MS, University of New Hampshire, 2007 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies September, 2011 UMI Number: 3488787 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation Director, Kevin Gardner, Professor of Civil Engineering tifter" John Halsteid, Professor of Natural Resources and the Environment H L i^uM) IQIA^ULJPU^. Mil Duncan, Professor of Sociology ._ ^ Semra Aytur, Assistant Professor/6f HeaTuTMasiagement and Policy *~^-^k^cL iklfiM Richard Watts, Assistant Research Professor ComHmnity Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont ^ 7. / / \ / Date Acknowledgements A number of individuals and organizations made this research possible.
Financial support was received from the University of New Hampshire, the Environmental Research Group at UNH, the NRESS Student Support Fund, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It should be noted that the research described in this dissertation has been funded in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Graduate Fellowship Program. EPA has not officially endorsed this publication and the views expressed herein may not reflect the views of the EPA. I am grateful to my advisors and committee members for their enthusiasm and support—not only for this research but also for the environment and sustainabihty issues in general.
Their dedication and commitment to teaching and research is admirable and they have all served as great role models. Community based research is nothing without willing community participants and I am thus grateful to the municipal officials, neighborhood leaders, and the citizens of Portsmouth and Manchester, NH for participating in this research. Finally, as always, I am very grateful for the support I receive on a daily basis from my wonderful family and friends, especially my husband, son, and parents. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi ABSTRACT vii INTRODUCTION 1 I.
BACKGROUND & LITERATURE REVIEW 10 II. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS AND SUMMARY OF THE SAMPLE 43 IV. PAPER ONE: Examining Walkability and Social Capital as Indicators of Quality of Life at the Municipal and Neighborhood Scale 56 V. PAPER TWO: Does the Built Environment Impact Social Capital? An Examination of Self-Perceived Walkability and Measures of Social Capital at the Neighborhood Scale 80 VI.
PAPER THREE: Social Capital and Communities: Measuring the Third Pillar of SustainabUity 108 VII. CONCLUSIONS 133 REFERENCE LIST 139 APPENDIX AIRB APPROVAL 145 APPENDIX B FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS AND SUMMARIES 146 APPENDIX C PILOT STUDY SURVEY INSTRUMENT 161 APPENDIX D FULL SCALE STUDY SURVEY 178 APPENDIX E NOTES FROM STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP 199 iv LIST OF TABLES III. Descriptive Statistics & Summary of the Sample Table 1. Factor analysis on community involvement questions 49 Table 2.
Factor analysis on trust questions 50 IV. Paper One Table 1. Summary of survey results 65 Table 2. Summary of comparison results for more walkable and less walkable neighborhoods 70 Table 3.
Comparisons of example neighborhoods in both Manchester and Portsmouth 73 Table 4. Portsmouth and Manchester Summary Results 75 V. Paper Two Table 1. Factor analysis on community involvement questions 92 Table 2.
Factor analysis on trust questions 93 Table 3. Summary of survey responses for more walkable neighborhoods vs. less walkable neighborhoods 96 Table 4. Results of student's T-tests 96 Table 5.
Output from multilevel regression analysis for community index dependent variable 97 Table 6. Results of multilevel regression model for trust index 98 Table 7. Survey sample demographics compared to Census demographic data 100 VI. Paper Three Table 1.
Walkability index questions 119 Table 2. Summary statistics 123 Table 3. Results of t-tests comparing more and less walkable neighborhoods 124 v LIST OF FIGURES I. Background & Literature Review Figure 1.
Three interconnected aspects of sustainabihty 12 Figure 2. Terms used to describe social sustainabihty 14 II. Research methods used 36 III. Descriptive Statistics & Summary of the Sample Figure 1.
Survey question used as the basis for the walkability index. Respondents with higher levels of education are more likely to say yes to participating in a community project 51 Figure 3. Volunteered in the last year vs. education level 51 Figure 4.
Respondents with higher education levels are more likely to say that they generally trust others 52 Figure 5. Trust index by education level 53 Figure 6. Respondents with higher incomes are more likely to indicate participating in a community project in the last year 53 Figure 7. Respondents with higher incomes are more likely to indicate volunteering in the last year 54 Figure 8.
General trust responses by income level 54 IV. Paper One Figure 1. Logic behind the possible link between walkability and social capital 59 V. Paper Two Figure 1.
Walkability survey question 90 VI. Paper Three Figure 1. Three interconnected aspects of sustainability 110 Figure 2. Terms used to describe social sustainability , 112 Figure 3.
Community activities used to create community index 120 Figure 4. Word Count for Answers to the Survey Question: Are there things that could be done to make you more likely to walk in neighborhood? 125 VI Abstract EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: A CASE STUDY IN MEASURING COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY by Shannon H. Rogers University of New Hampshire, September, 2011 The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are frequently described as having three main components, sometimes referred to as the three pillars or the triple bottom line: environmental, economic, and social. Because the origins of sustainability come from a desire to right environmental wrongs much consideration has been given to the environmental issues, especially how they interface with economic ones.
Frequently mentioned but rarely examined, the social aspects of sustainability have been considered the weakest and least described pillar. This work explores the utility of social capital, the value of one's networks and connections, as a measure of sustainability. As an individual and group based concept, social capital is often thought of in the context of communities. Communities have both physical and social infrastructures and how we develop and use the land we live on has many implications for society.
The idea that we would have more interactions with neighbors and fellow citizens if we lived in neighborhoods that promoted walking and were built on the human scale seems logical but there has been little evidence to suggest that a relationship between social capital and the built environment exists (Litman, 2010; Leyden, 2003; Kathlene & Wallick, 1999). Through a vii case study approach this dissertation examines the relationship between social aspects of sustainability (specifically social capital) and the built environment. Residents living in neighborhoods of varying built form and thus varying levels of walkability in three communities in New Hampshire were surveyed about their levels of social capital and travel behaviors. Survey respondents were asked how many locations they could walk to within their neighborhood or community and these responses were used to develop a walkability index.
Responses to questions about trust and community involvement were compiled into two indices that served as the key measures of social capital. Comparisons between the more walkable and less walkable neighborhoods show that levels of social capital are higher in more walkable neighborhoods, even after controlling for key demographic variables. The findings suggest that social capital and walkability may be potent measures of community sustainability and that communities might benefit from shaping the built environment in ways that promote destination walking. viii INTRODUCTION Sustainability can be conceptualized at many levels from individual products and their impacts on the environment and social systems, all the way to accounting for the value of the world's ecosystem services.
For businesses, sustainability often means achieving a triple bottom line. "A sustainable corporation is one that creates profit for its shareholders while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those with who it interacts" (Savitz 2006, X). It is about doing well and doing good at the same time and a truly sustainable corporation would be one that improves the community in which it does business all while making a profit. Among many measures, this can take the form of life cycle assessment to analyze the environmental and social impacts of a product's development, use, and disposal.
Corporate sustainability can also be measured by the way in which a corporation conducts its own operations, such as the type of building it is headquartered in or the alternative transportation and workplace flexibility options it provides for its employees. Sustainability for a national, state, or municipal government can mean similar things but with a greater emphasis on providing for the needs of the public in a fiscally, socially, and environmentally responsible way. The public becomes the shareholder, in effect, and looks for an accountable and transparent use of their tax dollars. Specially, governments may seek to tabulate their greenhouse gas emissions and then reduce the emissions through energy efficiency in government owned buildings.
A government's sustainability efforts can also serve as an example for its citizens through the purchase of 1 environmentally preferred office supplies and renewable energy to socially responsible investing of its employees' retirement funds. Somewhere between corporations and governments lies the concept of sustainable communities. Communities are a natural starting point for measuring sustainability because they are a common physical and geopolitical organizing concept. We are all members of some type of community.
Even in today's digital age, the physical environment still provides something that no computer screen or smartphone can emulate—tangible connections. "In general, for sociologists, community has traditionally designated a particular form of social organization based on small groups, such as neighbourhoods, the small town, or a spatially bounded locality" (Delanty 2003). Communities are often a mixture of public and private, government and business infrastructure and they are generally also residential locations. Communities striving to achieve sustainability goals have taken many forms but all attempt to address their social, environmental, and economic responsibilities through measurable and reportable outcomes.
The following dissertation research seeks to understand and measure important components of sustainable communities. To do that, we must first define the problem and then explore pertinent areas of literature. Because sustainable communities are an interdisciplinary and complex topic, there are many areas of relevant literature to consider. The subsequent problem description and literature review covers several key areas of research as they pertain to the notion of sustainable communities in general and the intersection of the built environment and social capital, in particular.