Who cares about neighbourhoods?

Abstract

In this article I reflect on the current revival of interest in community and the neighbourhood in much western academic and policy literature and explores the different ways in which the idea of the neighbourhood continues to have resonance in the contemporary world. In doing so, I examines different conceptions and dimensions of neighbourhood, as community, as context, as commodity and as a consumption niche. I also explore the future of neighbourhood in the information age and argue that aspects of technological and demographic changes may be reinforcing as well as reshaping its role in our everyday lives.