Social cohesion and the city: Urban infrastructure and amenities for a sustainable society – SOCOCITY

To answer these questions, the project uses applied econometric methods, aimed at establishing causal links between the elements under study. The project relies on a variety of detailed, localized databases (e.g. at neighbourhood level), drawn from national surveys and administrative sources.

The methods used correspond to those announced in the initial project. From the point of view of the data used, the work carried out has evolved in relation to what had been anticipated, opening up new perspectives.

- First, we used foreign data to study contexts other than the French case. On the one hand, we used data on Kenya (data drawn from various surveys and budgetary data on local public finances that we collected from documents available online) to study the role of ethnic diversity on the use of local public services, in a context of decentralization of public authorities, particularly in the field of health. On the other hand, we used highly detailed individual data from various Danish administrations, enabling us to detail the criminal and employment histories of individuals. These data enabled us to work on the link between imprisonment and employment trajectories. While the initial project proposed to focus on France, working on foreign data opened up the possibility of studying the issues of the 2nd axis in other contexts, highlighting the role of institutions on the link between social cohesion and the economy.

- As for French data, access to administrative data on crime and delinquency with sufficient historical depth to assess the effects of urban renewal programs proved more difficult than expected, due to administrative and institutional barriers. We also sought to mobilize old electoral data, at polling station level, again to measure the effects of urban renewal. This information exists, but is not grouped together in a centralized database. We therefore set about collecting this data from departmental archives, local authorities and the BNF. Given the scale of this collection work, which began rather late, the creation of this unique database is still a work in progress.

Work carried out under the first axis assesses the impact of the National Urban Renewal Program on local economic conditions and social cohesion. An initial analysis concludes that the PNRU has had no significant effect on private residential property prices. Other research is exploring its impact on crime and electoral behavior, but is still in progress, with the construction of databases on crime and electoral results at polling station level over several decades.

The second axis focuses on the role of economic conditions on social cohesion, in particular through delinquency. The results show that poor local economic conditions, particularly high unemployment, increase the likelihood of being a victim of certain crimes, especially property crime. An analysis of business closures reveals that they lead to an increase in burglaries in the area concerned two years later, especially in already fragile territories. These results confirm that economic insecurity contributes to the deterioration of social cohesion by encouraging delinquency.

This area also explores how social cohesion influences economic trajectories. We show that neighbors play a role in school orientation choices after ninth grade, particularly in the decision to opt for a vocational stream, which reinforces social segregation between the general and vocational streams. We also show that workers laid off for economic reasons are often rehired in companies where social dialogue is weaker, which reduces their bargaining power and leads to a lasting drop in income. These results underline the importance of social cohesion, whether in neighborhoods or companies, in terms of inequality and professional integration.

Other works have emerged, shedding light on the role of institutions in the links between the economy and social cohesion. In the context of sub-Saharan Africa, studies show that certain forms of social organization, such as “joking cousins”, or institutional organization, such as decentralization, can modify the effects of ethnic diversity on the local economy. In parallel, two studies explore the role of institutions in the dynamics of delinquency. In France, an analysis of the judicial treatment of violence against women highlights the institutional obstacles to filing a complaint. In Denmark, research into the impact of incarceration shows that probationary sentences are more effective than firm imprisonment in reducing recidivism and improving the professional integration of convicted offenders.

This project opens up new scientific perspectives by broadening the themes addressed and extending the research already underway. The collaborations initiated within this framework are continuing, not only to finalize the work in progress and bring it to publication, but also to launch new studies in the continuity of the project.

In particular, increased access to certain data, notably on crime and delinquency, opens the way to new analyses. In addition, the construction of an electoral database at polling station level for the last two decades of the twentieth century will provide free access to this information for the scientific community and support future work. These new opportunities have already led several team members to apply for funding from the ANR and other institutions.

In addition, the research carried out as part of the project has led to two important scientific initiatives. Firstly, the project contributed to the development of the multi-disciplinary “Cities, History and Society” program, part of the “Ouvrir la Science Économique” chair, which plays a structuring role within the Paris School of Economics. Secondly, it has led to the creation of the “Police - Justice” unit at the Institute for Public Policies, which enhances the visibility of work on crime and delinquency, facilitates dialogue with data-producing administrations and enables progress to be made in this field.

These two initiatives will guarantee the continuation and enhancement of the work undertaken, thus ensuring a lasting impact of the project on social science research.

Processing.

By 2050, 86.7 percent of high income countries’ population will live in an urban area (United Nations estimates). It is thus critical to figure out the conditions making cities socially integrated places and cohesive communities which can open the way towards economic security and stability. In particular, the organization of the urban space (location and quality of buildings, transportation infrastructures, public parks…) may shape the nature of social encounters and hence influence the social and economic sphere. The purpose of this project is precisely to investigate whether and how urban infrastructure and amenities can foster social cohesion and lead to economically and socially sustainable cities, in the French context. In order to study this unexplored relationship, the project will rely on very rich and local data, thus getting new insights on the underlying mechanisms.

Understanding what determines individuals’ willingness and ability to live close to each other is crucial to figure out the conditions for sustainable human settlements. Indeed, unappealing locations are likely to be characterized by high residential turnover and strong negative social sorting, impeding the creation and enforcement of social norms and leading to adverse economic conditions and socially fragmented communities. On the other hand, some amenities reflecting high quality of life may overcome the dispersion forces related to congestion and make cities more attractive. Cities offering such amenities could instead be characterized by high residential stability, providing ground for more integrated human settlement and more cohesive societies through the creation and enforcement of common social norms.

The first objective of the project will seek to understand whether and how urban amenities and infrastructure affect social cohesion. To this aim, we will engage in several tasks based on very rich and local data for France. We will first use the French National Urban Renewal Program (PNRU) to measure the effect of various types of amenities on social cohesion. Since 2004, the French government has invested more than 47 billion euros into 571 deprived neighborhoods in order to reduce social segregation and improve the living environment. This has financed demolition and reconstruction or renovation of existing housing stock, as well as improvement of public spaces or creation of green spaces. This policy offers a very neat setting to study the causal impact of various types of urban infrastructure and amenities on social cohesion. We will evaluate the impact of such amenities on various indicators of social cohesion such as crime and insecurity, participation to elections, participation to local associations, or residential mobility. We will then explore the effect of transportation infrastructure on similar outcomes considering both mass transit networks and local infrastructure such as public bikes, and relying on instrumental variable estimations.

The second goal will aim at understanding the dual relationship between social cohesion and economic conditions. We will first explore whether increasing social cohesion translates into better economic outcomes, and especially lower unemployment. Using labor force survey data, we propose to measure the extent to which the level of social cohesion in a neighborhood influences the propensity to find a job in the same plant as one’s neighbor. We will then eventually investigate the reverse relationship, namely the influence of economic conditions on social cohesion. Keeping in mind the scope of this proposal, we will more precisely ask whether urban amenities and infrastructure can mitigate the effect of economic shocks on social cohesion indicators. In all tasks, particular attention will be directed to identifying unbiased causal effects.