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The Perception of the Ideal Neighborhood: A Preamble to Implementation of a “Street Use Code”

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Abstract

In a French town, the implementation of a street use code implies speed limits and the development of “30 km/h zones”. In order to see if this new regulation meets the inhabitants’ expectations, a study of the representation of the ideal neighborhood was carried out. This was conducted with a group of inhabitants (N = 48) and with a group of students mostly living outside the neighborhood (N = 363). The theoretical framework is that of the structural approach of social representations and the methodology used is the inductive method of free associations. For the inhabitants as well as for the students this representation is organized around the same central nucleus. Nevertheless, significant differences in the discourse concerning the lifestyles of the two groups leads to the conclusion that there exists a link between the ideal neighborhood and real life in the minds of the respondents.

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Notes

  1. http://www.ccnpps.ca/288/Video.ccnpps?id_article=938.

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Acknowledgments

These works were financed within the framework of a CIFRE agreement (Industrial Agreements for Training Through Research) with the city of Angers. We would like to thank the reviewers for their comments and suggestions for the manuscript.

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  1. Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (LPPL) UPRES EA 4638, Maison des Sciences Humaines, LUNAM Université, University of Angers, 5 bis boulevard Lavoisier, 49045, Angers Cedex 01, France

    Sandrine Gaymard & Jimmy Bordarie

  2. Direction de la Voirie, Angers, France

    Jimmy Bordarie

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  1. Sandrine Gaymard
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Gaymard, S., Bordarie, J. The Perception of the Ideal Neighborhood: A Preamble to Implementation of a “Street Use Code”. Soc Indic Res 120, 801–816 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0610-1

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