强大的社区：振兴美国和建设繁荣社会的关键（英）

PLURALISMANDCIVILEXCHANGESPECIALSTUDY STRONGNEIGHBORHOODS KEYTOREVIVINGAMERICAANDBUILDINGAFLOURISHING SOCIETY SethKaplan,MercatusCenter MERCATUS.ORG SethKaplan,“StrongNeighborhoods:KeytoRevivingAmericaandBuildingaFlour-ishingSociety,”MercatusSpecialStudy,MercatusCenteratGeorgeMasonUniversity,Arlington,VA,November2022. ABSTRACT Americanneighborhoodshavedeclinedoverthepastfewdecades,contributingtorisingisolation,mistrust,andpolarization.Weakersocialtiesareleadingtogreaterdepression,anxiety,addiction,suicide,andalienation.Moreover,duringthepast50years,thenumberofhigh-povertyneighborhoodshastripledandthepopulationofpoorpeopleintheseneighborhoodshasdoubled,evenasspend-ingonwelfarehassoared.Andyet,therearefewsystematiceffortstobolsterneighborhoods.Theroleofinstitutionsiskeytorevivinganeighborhood.Thewaytheseinstitutionsstructure—orfailtostructure—relationshipsattheneigh-borhoodandinterneighborhoodlevelaffectsthevitalityofeachlocaleandthewell-beingofeveryonelivingthere. JELcodes:I12,I30,I31,I38,J12,J13,J62,R12,R23 Keywords:family,health,inequality,mobility,neighborhoods,polarization,poverty,socialentrepreneurs,spatial,urban,welfare,well-being ©2022bySethKaplanandtheMercatusCenteratGeorgeMasonUniversity TheviewsexpressedinMercatusResearcharetheauthors’anddonotrepresentofficialpositionsoftheMercatusCenterorGeorgeMasonUniversity. A smanystudieshavedocumented,Americanneighborhoodshavedeclinedoverthepastfewdecades,contributingtorisingisolation,mistrust,andpolarization.Weakersocialtiesareleadingtogreaterdepression,anxiety,addiction,suicide,andalienation,affectingall socioeconomicstrata—fromthepoortothewell-off.1Moreover,duringthepast50years,thenumberofhigh-povertyneighborhoodshastripledandthepopula-tionofpoorpeopleinthemhasdoubled,evenasspendingonwelfarehassoared(seefigure1).Americancitiesnowhavemorethan750distressedcommunities,2withmoreinsuburbanandruralareas.Andyet,therearefewsystematiceffortstobolsterneighborhoods,especiallywhereitisneededmost.Thislackispartlyduetothecomplexityandlong-termnatureofthechallengeandtheneedtoworkacrosssilosininnovativewaysthatcantipbroadersocialandeconomicdynamics. Thispaperlooksatwhatmakesneighborhoodsstrong,whyexistingeffortstoimprovethemhavemostlyfailed,andhowsystemsthinkingattheneighbor-hoodlevelmightbethesolution—andmayevenrepairsocietyintheprocess.Itanalyzesbothcross-neighborhoodquantitativeresearchundertakenbyacadem-icsandspecificcase-basedreflectionsundertakenbypractitioners. 1.SeeAnneCaseandAngusDeaton,“MortalityandMorbidityinthe21stCentury,”BrookingsPapersonEconomicActivity(Spring2017):397–443,https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads /2017/08/casetextsp17bpea.pdf;USCongress,JointEconomicCommittee–Republicans,“WhatWeDoTogether:TheStateofAssociationalLifeinAmerica,”SocialCapitalProject,SCPReportNo.1-17,May15,2017,https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6f670ee8-74de-497a-85f6-4cf6502d52d4/1-17-what-we-do-together.pdf;andRobertD.Putnam,BowlingAlone:TheCollapseandRevivalofAmericanCommunity(NewYork:Simon&Schuster,2000). 2.JoeCortrightandDillonMahmoudi,“LostinPlace:WhythePersistenceandSpreadofConcentratedPoverty—NotGentrification—IsOurBiggestUrbanChallenge,”CityReport(December2014),https://cityobservatory.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/LostinPlace_12.4.pdf. FIGURE1.DESPITEINCREASEDSPENDINGONWELFARE,THENUMBEROFDISTRESSEDNEIGHBORHOODSHASBEENRISINGFORDECADES Totalspending(trillionsof2016US$) 4.5 Poorpersonslivinginurban high-povertyneighborhoods(millions) 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 –0.5 $1.2 $1.0 NeighborhoodTypenewlyhighpovertychronichighpovertyrebounded highpovertyreduced $0.8 $0.6 $0.4 $0.2 $0 19501960197019801990200020102016 1970 2010 Note:(Newlyhighpoverty)3.2millionpoorpeoplein2010livedinneighborhoodsthatwerenothighpovertyin1970.Thenumberofthesecensustractsnearlytripled,from1,100in1970to3,100in2010.(Chronichighpoverty)75per-centof1970high-povertyneighborhoodswerestillhighpovertyfourdecadeslater.(Rebounded)Only100,000poorpeoplein1970livedinneighborhoodsofconcentratedpovertythathavesince“rebounded”topovertybelowthenationalaverageby2010.Thelikelihoodthataneighborhoodreboundswas1in20. Source:(bargraph)DataarefromJoeCortrightandDillonMahmoudi,“LostinPlace:WhythePersistenceandSpreadofConcentratedPoverty—NotGentrification—IsOurBiggestUrbanChallenge,”CityReport(December2014);(graphontop-left)Totalspendingonwelfarefrom1950to2016dataarefromtheOfficeofManagementandBudgetdocuments. HOWDONEIGHBORHOODSHELPSOCIETYFLOURISH? Democracydependsoncitizenslearningthecivichabitsandpracticesnecessarytosustainit,suchasproactivelyparticipatinginpublicserviceandcommunalinstitutions,beingwillingtolisten,actinginasociallyresponsiblemanner,andbalancingindividualinterestswiththecommongood.JamesMadisonexplained,“Tosupposethatanyformofgovernmentwillsecurelibertyorhappinesswith-outanyvirtueinthepeople,isachimericalidea.”3Thesemustbelearnedthroughrepeatedinteractionswithothers—ideallyinpersonandamongvarioustypesofpeople—thatarestructuredinaconstructivemannerbysocialinstitutionsandnorms,suchtha