Neighbourhoods are salient for many dimensions of individuals’ social and economic well-being, yet the impacts of rapidly emerging digital information and communication technologies (DICTs) on neighbourhoods and the social processes within them are understudied. This gap motivates this Special Issue, the themes of which we introduce here. We provide an overarching conceptual framework within which the topics, conceptualisations and empirical results of the 11 constituent research papers can be placed. Our framework posits multiple, mutually causal interrelationships between each element in the triad of neighbourhoods, individual residents’ characteristics and individual residents’ actions. In each element we focus on the role(s) of DICTs and their interplay with social processes. These technologies alter traditional housing search patterns, sometimes reinforcing existing segregation, but they also present opportunities for greater access to information and potential social integration. The issue’s 11 research papers, contributed by scholars from various global contexts, explore diverse aspects of these themes. They examine how DICTs mediate neighbourhood change by influencing local housing choices, amplifying or mitigating neighbourhood stigma and transforming social cohesion. By offering a rich empirical and conceptual exploration, this special issue aims to deepen our understanding of the transformative role that DICTs play in neighbourhoods, urging further research into their implications for neighbourhood change and urban social processes.

中文翻译：

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数字化、邻里变化和城市社会进程：概念框架和特刊简介


社区在个人社会和经济福祉的许多方面都很重要，但迅速出现的数字信息和通信技术 （DICT） 对社区及其内部社会进程的影响尚未得到充分研究。这种差距激发了本期特刊的灵感，我们在这里介绍其主题。我们提供了一个总体概念框架，可以将 11 篇组成研究论文的主题、概念化和实证结果置于该框架内。我们的框架假设了社区三元组中的每个元素、个体居民的特征和个体居民的行为之间的多重、相互因果的相互关系。在每个元素中，我们关注 DICT 的作用及其与社会过程的相互作用。这些技术改变了传统的住房搜索模式，有时会加剧现有的隔离，但它们也为更多地获取信息和潜在的社会融合提供了机会。本期的 11 篇研究论文由来自不同全球背景的学者提供，探讨了这些主题的不同方面。他们研究了 DICT 如何通过影响当地的住房选择、放大或减轻社区耻辱感以及改变社会凝聚力来调解社区变化。通过提供丰富的实证和概念探索，本期特刊旨在加深我们对 DICT 在社区中发挥的变革作用的理解，敦促进一步研究它们对社区变化和城市社会进程的影响。