Beyond the residential neighborhood: A scoping review of research on urban neighborhood networks

Noli Brazil, Jennifer Candipan, Brian Levy and Thalia Tom

Social Science & Medicine, 2025, vol. 372, issue C

Abstract: An emerging framework has expanded the neighborhood effects perspective by recognizing that exposure to, and the impact of, neighborhood conditions extend beyond the residential environment. This framework conceptualizes neighborhoods as embedded within a citywide network, with ties based on the durable, aggregated, and socially meaningful connections linking residents across a city. Measuring neighborhood conditions solely within residential areas may underestimate exposure to neighborhood conditions that are consequential for health. This paper presents results from a scoping review of the emerging neighborhood networks literature. We identified 32 U.S.-based studies published between 2014 and 2023. The overwhelming majority of these studies conceptualized neighborhood networks based on the aggregated daily mobility of residents, with 72 percent using either cell phone or social media data to construct neighborhood networks. Key empirical findings include evidence that durable patterns of racial/ethnic and income segregation generally extend into neighborhood networks and that network exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage is correlated with crime and poor health outcomes. Future research should examine other types of ties beyond those created via daily mobility, explore a wider range of exposures and outcomes, and investigate the implications of neighborhood networks on individual-level health.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117945

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