ABSTRACT
The neighborhood is recognized as an integral part of the urban landscape. Despite the widespread use of the term, there exists little agreement with respect to the parameters of the neighborhood as a planning unit. Traditionally, ethnoscientific approaches have been understood to have applicability for two dimensions of research: the conceptual and methodological. Neighborhoods do have cognitive meaning for urban residents. The most commonly cited and agreed upon components of neighborhood are interpersonal or territorial in nature. The social identity of a neighborhood tends to be reinforced through institutions especially educational and recreational ones and through voluntary associations. The degree of satisfaction residents express about their neighborhood as a place to live varies across neighborhood boundaries. The fact that the cognitive neighborhood unit is not isomorphic with any formally designated geographical unit is of vital importance to urban planners. The use of cognitively defined units would not be a panacea for urban planning problems.
