Between spaces and flows: towards a new agenda for neighbourhood research in an age of mobility

Abstract

This article discusses the role of the neighbourhood in an era of increased mobility. It explores the consequences of the “new mobilities paradigm”, which argues that the growing importance of flows – of people, goods and information – results in a de-territorialization of social practices. Flows thus gain prominence in comparison to places like regions and neighbourhoods. At the same time, however, neighbourhoods continue to play a role in the actions and imaginations of people, neighbourhood organizations, and government policies. People still live in neighbourhoods, and governments still try to solve often severe social problems through neighbourhood policies. We argue that the neighbourhood has to be re-imagined as a collection of hybrid nodes connecting a multiplicity of flows that bind actors and objects in order to understand the potential effectiveness of these policies. From this new mobilities perspective, we make suggestions for future neighbourhood research.