ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the research on neighborhoods, trying to offer a common ground based on existing literature. It analyses neighborhood identity, image, and brand. Place attachment helps explain why people select, or deselect, a place such as a neighborhood. Neighborhoods are important units of study because of the inherent ambiguity. There is power in the idea of the neighborhood, power that comes not from its precision as a sociological construction but from its nuanced complexity as a vernacular term. Typically, a neighborhood is thought about as a defined geographical space with dwelling units and people linked together through social bonds. Neighborhoods could promote or hinder citizen engagement, depending upon factors such as size, age, and type of housing. Relating brand image to neighborhoods, each year the American Planning Association puts out a list of “America’s Best” including neighborhoods, streets, and public spaces.
