In Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam argued that urbanisation, especially suburbanisation, had been harmful to levels of civic engagement in the US. Sifting through recent data on volunteering and civic participation in US Cities, Andy Carr finds some anomalies that suggest density may indeed encourage greater civic engagement where educational and religious organisations are strong.
Martha Bridegam describes Dignity Village and other settlements setting out to prove that informal housing can be just as peaceful, lawful and neighbourly as any other residential area.
Martha Bridegam describes a recent increase in criminalising legislation and policing against homeless and informally housed Americans but asks, is this a short-term backlash against changes in the nature of US housing?
Daniel London discusses the settlement houses and social centres of the late 19th century, and how they sought to transform urban diversity into civic unity for broad social reform.
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Martha Bridegam is a lawyer and writer in San Francisco with a history of volunteer advocacy for informally housed city residents.
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
