Neighborhood effects on integrative organizational practices in five global cities

Abstract

Organizational practices, such as interacting with and advocating for constituents or engaging in event hosting and collaboration, are critical to integration—creating connections across lines of difference. However, these practices are unevenly distributed across neighborhoods and shaped by neighborhood characteristics. Here, connecting organizational and neighborhood-level data, this study explores how neighborhood affluence (income) and heterogeneity (migrant population share) affect the integrative practices among civil society organizations. Using unique survey data from five global cities, we analyze the organizational practices of 863 civil society organizations in 536 neighborhoods. We find that social integration practices—connecting people to each other—are more prevalent in poorer neighborhoods. Conversely, systemic integration practices—connecting people and organizations to other organizations in the ecosystem—are more common in heterogeneous neighborhoods, especially when they are affluent. These findings shed light on the role of organizations in promoting social cohesion and economic development as well as disparities in integrative practices among neighborhoods. To understand how organizations produce urban integration, that is, connections across lines of difference, Brandtner et al. conducted a survey of 863 civil society organizations in five global cities: San Francisco, Seattle, Shenzhen, Sydney and Vienna. They find that neighborhood income and the share of migrant populations are associated with whether organizational practices aim at connecting people or institutions.