A 'neighbourhood' or 'neighborhood' (see
spelling differences) is a geographically localised
community located within a larger
city,
town or
suburb.
North America
In
Canada and the
United States, neighbourhoods are often given official or semi-official status through ''
neighbourhood associations'', ''
neighbourhood watches'', 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 localities where neighbourhoods do not have an official status, questions can arise as to where one neighbourhood begins and another ends. Many cities may use ''districts'' and ''wards'' as official divisions of the city, rather than traditional neighbourhood boundaries.
Balkan States and Ottoman Empire
Main articles: Komshi
China
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 (街道办事处), which is the direct sublevel of a
district (区), which is the direct sublevel of a
city (市). (See
Political divisions of China)
United Kingdom
The term has no official or statistical purpose in the United Kingdom, but is often used as a generic term to refer to a small area within a town or city. The label is commonly used to refer to organisations which relate to such a very local structure, such as neighbourhood policing
[1] or
Neighbourhood watch schemes.
In addition, government statistics for local areas are often referred to as neighbourhood statistics, although the data themselves are broken down usually into
districts and
wards for local purposes.
See also
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Barrio
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Bairro
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Block Parent Program (Canada)
★
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Cuba)
★
Frazione
★
Homeowners' association
★
Kiez
★
Komshi
★
Mahalle
★
Neighbourhood Watch
★
Quartiere
★
Residential community
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Unincorporated community