Social mixing as a cure for negative neighbourhood effects: Evidence based policy or urban myth?

This chapter begins by outlining the rhetoric of neighbourhood social mix and then turns to critique this through quantitative research that investigates the effect of different levels of neighbourhood housing tenure mix on transitions from unemployment to employment, and the probability of staying in employment for those with a job. It uses individual-level data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, a 5.3% sample of the Scottish population, covering a 10-year period. The findings are that the characteristics of direct neighbours and those living in neighbouring streets are more important than the characteristics of the wider neighbourhood. They find long-lasting negative effects of living in deprived neighbourhoods, but only a small, if significant, benefit of living in mixed tenure (40–80% social housing) streets and blocks for the unemployed.