Date:
Location:
Speaker
David Sutton, "Neighborhoods as Communities of Interest"
Abstract
Neighborhoods are the basic analytical level for many areas of social science. In particular, they serve as one form of communities of interest, a traditional redistricting criterion that lacks a formal definition. Recent research has attempted to define neighborhoods using the subjective definitions that people provide when asked to draw, define, or otherwise describe their neighborhoods. This research is highly informative about the connectedness of local areas but it is difficult to develop these measures to provide a national picture of neighborhoods in the United States. To help address this problem, we leverage an untapped resource – cities’ official neighborhoods. Most major cities in the United States have created or adopted official boundaries to delineate their neighborhoods. Often these boundaries serve as the base layer for administrative functions in the cities, ranging from planning to parking to policing to schools. Many are historically rooted sub-communities defined by geographic features within a city or dating to the original incorporation of an area into the city. We use these official neighborhoods as a starting point in clarifying the meaning of communities of interest. Also, we examine whether and to what extent electoral districts respect these official municipal neighborhood boundaries, as well as measure the relationship between neighborhood splits and key neighborhood demographic features.
The American Politics Research Workshop (Gov 3004) meets all academic year, Tuesdays, 12:00 - 2:00 PM, in CGIS K354. This workshop presents an opportunity for graduate students and Harvard faculty to present and receive feedback on their current research. The workshop highlights key theoretical and empirical findings from Harvard affiliates on topics related to American politics.
All interested Harvard affiliates are invited to attend.