Living in segregated areas with concentrated neighbourhood poverty negatively affects
the quality of life, including the availability of local jobs, access to services,
and supportive social relationships. However, even with similar neighbourhood poverty
levels, the degree and structure of spatial separation vary markedly between such
areas. We expected that the level of spatial segregation aggravates the social exclusion
of its inhabitants by negatively affecting their social capital. To test this hypothesis,
we identified three low‐income neighbourhoods with high poverty rates (78%) in a medium‐sized
town in Hungary, with different levels of integration in the city (based on characteristics
such as the degree of spatial separation, infrastructure, and availability of services).
The three neighbourhoods were located in two areas of differing degrees of integration
in the fabric of the city: fully integrated, semi‐integrated (integrated into the
surrounding residential area but isolated from the city), and non‐integrated. 69%
of the 394 households in these areas were represented in our sample (one respondent
per household). We interviewed respondents regarding the size and composition of their
personal networks. Our results, which also distinguished between Roma and non‐Roma
inhabitants, showed that those living in the spatially more integrated area not only
have the largest and most diverse networks but seem to have a strong, “bonding‐based”
cohesive community network as well. Even the non‐Roma who live there have ethnically
heterogeneous—in other words—Roma network members. The disintegrated area, on the
other hand, is characterised by both spatial and social isolation.
