2001/11/01 by Emma Grant · 81 citations
Social Sciences · #Business #Community development #Economic growth #Economics #Neighbourhood (mathematics) #Social Capital and Networks #Social capital #Social science #Sociology #Urban and Rural Development Challenges #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies #Welfare
paper · doi:10.1111/1467-7660.00234
published in Development and Change 32(5), 975-997 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2001/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This article uses a social capital framework to analyse the strategies employed by two low–income communities in Guatemala City to improve their physical and social environment. The case studies provide examples of poor communities, without access to any form of insurance or welfare benefits, struggling to achieve neighbourhood development. They also demonstrate the way in which strategies can be defined by the issue of land tenure. Key strategies for development were found to be mobilization through community organization, informal links (including clientelistic relations) with powerful groups, and protest. The author concludes that social capital (within communities and between stakeholders) and some degree of security (land tenure) are critical ingredients for communities to develop effective strategies for neighbourhood development with other stakeholders.