The social structure of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa neighborhoods

This article investigates residents' sense of neighborliness in different types of neighborhoods in Tel-Aviv. Five different residential areas were investigated, representing different social classes, ethnic groups, and lifestyles. Residents' sense of neighborliness and social restructuring of neighborhoods' characteristics were investigated based on questionnaires. The analysis led to the following conclusions. First, neighborhoods are relevant but relatively marginal in importance to all five groups in Tel-Aviv. Second, all the respondents mentioned the importance of sense of territoriality and social interactions with some others in their neighborhood. Third, two types of neighborhoods have been identified: neighborhoods that are perceived as centers of identification and neighborhoods that are perceived as territorial units of daily services. Fourth, identification with the neighborhood represents the largest variability among neighborhoods, and lower class neighborhoods were assigned relatively low rates of sense of neighborliness.