Multiple senses of community in central and peripheral neighborhoods of Seville: The fragmentation of personal networks in social housing estates

A neighborhood's psychological sense of community is shaped by residents’ rootedness and their participation in everyday activities such as walking or using green spaces. Having children, owning a home, or walking a dog are often positively associated with a stronger sense of belonging to the local environment. However, the social foundations of the subjective experience of belonging and emotional connection to one’s neighborhood remain underexplored. Moreover, relatively few empirical studies have examined multiple senses of community simultaneously. This study analyzes the relationship between the structural characteristics of personal networks and the psychological sense of community among residents of four neighborhoods in the historic center and one in the urban periphery of Seville, in southern Spain. In each case, we also compare the sense of belonging to the neighborhood and to the city. The community survey included 430 residents. Personal networks characterized by higher fragmentation and greater homophily were more common in the peripheral neighborhood, where residents also reported a comparatively lower sense of community than in the historic center. However, the strongest predictors of neighborhood- and city-level belonging were comparative perceived well-being, length of residence in the neighborhood, and the number of neighborhoods in which respondents had previously lived. • Social housing residents reported a weaker sense of community than those living in the city's historic center. • Residents in peripheral districts had more fragmented networks and greater homophily than those in central areas. • Wellbeing perceptions and length of residence were the strongest predictors of sense of community.