Strong ties or weak ties? Neighbourhood networks in a new perspective

The purpose of this article is to explore the structure and content of locally based neighbourhood networks. Instead of assuming that more and deeper neighbourhood relations are obviously better, we consider the role that social relations among neighbours actually plays in people's daily lives. The empirical results presented in this article are based on two case studies conducted in a Swedish housing area in 1983, and a follow up study in 1993. The results indicate that as long as we focus only on strong ties, the neighbourhood—in comparison to other arenas like family, relatives, work mates, and close friends—is of less importance for most people. But if we also consider the number of weak ties, defined as unpretentious everyday contacts, the local arena seems to be of significant importance for many people. The neighbourhood is proved to be a suitable arena for weak ties, because proximity and continuity, which promote the development of these kind of social contacts, are easily established in the vicinity.