Neighbourhood social cohesion is associated with a range of beneficial outcomes for residents. However, it is commonly hypothesised that neighbourhood relations face potential disruptions from digital information and communication technologies (DICT) as they are assumed to alter traditional community structures previously grounded in physical proximity. We systematically review 52 empirical studies on the relationship between DICT and neighbourhood social cohesion to determine in what ways DICT hinder or promote neighbourhood social cohesion. We found that DICT promote social cohesion by catalysing local social capital, but not for everyone and not in every neighbourhood. We propose the theoretical concept of ‘catalysts of connection’ to explain how technological affordances and online content interact with collective and individual social capital to develop various domains of social cohesion. Based on these results and our theoretical concept, we conclude that DICT exacerbate socio-spatial inequality in cities as neighbourhoods with low social capital are less likely to reap the benefits of the digital age. We provide paths for future investigations on the intersection of urban research and media and communication studies.

中文翻译：

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联系的催化剂。数字信息和通信技术在促进邻里社会凝聚力中的作用：实证研究结果的系统评价


邻里社会凝聚力与居民的一系列有益结果有关。然而，人们普遍假设邻里关系面临数字信息和通信技术 （DICT） 的潜在破坏，因为它们被认为会改变以前以物理接近为基础的传统社区结构。我们系统回顾了 52 项关于 DICT 与邻里社会凝聚力之间关系的实证研究，以确定 DICT 以何种方式阻碍或促进邻里社会凝聚力。我们发现 DICT 通过催化当地社会资本来促进社会凝聚力，但并非适合所有人，也不是每个社区都适合。我们提出了“连接催化剂”的理论概念，以解释技术可供性和在线内容如何与集体和个人社会资本相互作用，以发展社会凝聚力的各个领域。基于这些结果和我们的理论概念，我们得出结论，DICT 加剧了城市的社会空间不平等，因为社会资本低的社区不太可能从数字时代中受益。我们为城市研究和媒体与传播研究交叉领域的未来研究提供了路径。