Neighborhood Planning Theory, Guidelines, and Research: Can Area, Population, and Boundary Guide Conceptual Framing?

Planning scholars and practitioners know that planning projects and research are more likely to achieve significant outcomes when the problem is addressed at the most appropriate level of neighborhood. Selecting the right scale of neighborhood, however, is always challenging. To create conceptual framework for the choice of an appropriate neighborhood unit in future studies and projects, this article attempts to reveal a hierarchy of neighborhood and key elements for different levels of neighborhoods. The area, population, boundary characteristics, and key facilities for four levels of neighborhoods—face-blocks, residential neighborhoods, institutional neighborhoods, and community—are defined through the review of the literature on planning theory, guideline, and research on neighborhoods.