Introduction

Abstract

Why neighborhoods? Who cares about neighborhoods at the end of the twentieth century? To some extent, all of us care. Most people invest a large share of their resources in their housing and want it to be in a pleasant environment, physically and socially. But for some of us, especially those who spend more time in their homes and around them, the neighborhood is a vital component of the quality of life. Those people usually belong to the ends, the ends of human life — childhood and old age, and the ends of the socio-economic scale — poverty and wealth.