Streets Apart: Does Social Capital Vary with Neighbourhood Design?

Table 1

Characteristics of study suburbs.

Suburb	Conventional	Traditional	Hybrid
Suburb street network
	Cul-de-sac and curved layout	Predominantly grid layout	Mix of grid and cul-de-sacs
Suburb description	Grid-style street network, with a variety of shops and other services located primarily on a major central road.	Street network combined traditional grid system with circular roads and cul-de-sacs. A large shopping mall complex present but not centrally located, other community facilities are generally scattered throughout the suburb.	Cul-de-sac street network typical of urban sprawl and low residential density. Many community facilities were located centrally but also a dispersion of several small shopping complexes.
Suburb area (km)	8.98	4.94	5.07
Number of cul-de-sacs	304	39	119
Number of 3 way or greater intersections	448	134	267
Intersections per sq. km^1	49.89	39.27	52.66
Density of cul-de-sacs per sq. km^2	33.85	7.89	23.47
Dwelling type	Predominantly single detached houses	Number of high rise apartments, along with separate houses	Predominantly single detached houses
Bakeries, newsagents, deli	8	7	5
Retail-essential services (e.g., hairdressers, petrol stations, banks, and launderettes)	13	16	19
Bus stops	91	73	71
Primary schools	4	1	3
Parks	22	10	22

¹Intersections per sq. km: number of ≥ 3 way intersections/area.
²Cul-de-sacs per sq. km: number of cul-de-sacs/area.