Neighbourhood
A
neighbourhood or
neighborhood (see
spelling differences) is a geographically localised
community located within a larger
city or
suburb. The residents of a given neighbourhood are called
neighbours (or
neighbors), although this term may also be used across much larger distances in
rural areas.
Traditionally, a neighbourhood is small enough that the neighbours are all able to know each other. However in practice, neighbours may not know one another very well at all.
Villages aren't divided into neighbourhoods, because they are already small enough that the villagers can all know each other.
In
Canada and the
United States, neighbourhoods are often given official or semi-official status through
neighbourhood associations, or
block watches. These may regulate such matters as
lawn care and
fence height, and they may provide such services as
block parties, neighbourhood
parks, and community
security. In some other places the equivalent organisation is the
parish, though a parish may have several neighbourhoods within it depending on the area.
In the
mainland of the
People's Republic of China, the term is generally used for the urban administrative unit usually found immediately below the district level, although an intermediate, subdistrict level exists in some cities. They are also called streets (administrative terminology may vary from city to city). Neighbourhoods encompass 2,000 to 10,000 families. Within neighbourhoods, families are grouped into smaller residential
units or
quarters of 100 to 600 families and supervised by a residents' committee; these are subdivided into residents' small groups of fifteen to forty families. In most urban areas of China,
neighbourhood,
community,
residential community,
residential unit,
residential quarter have the same meaning: 社区 or 小区 or 居民区 or 居住区, and is the direct sublevel of a
subdistrict (街"办事处), which is the direct sublevel of a
district (区), which is the direct sublevel of a
city (市). (See
Political divisions of China)
*
Barrio*
Kiez*
Unincorporated community*
Residential community*
Homeowners association
