Building Community Facilities and Forming Social Capital in Public Rental Housing Complexes in Seoul, Korea

Abstract

This study analyzed the relationship between the use of community facilities and social capital in public rental housing complexes in Seoul, Korea. Since built environment research is particularly vulnerable to self-selection bias resulting from attitudes toward neighborly interactions, the behavioral–attitudinal dissonance method was used to assess whether the use of community facilities independently affects social capital, considering the cognitive and structural dimensions of social capital and types of public rental housing to account for socioeconomic diversity. The findings showed that community facility usage positively influences social capital formation among public rental housing residents, primarily those with a positive attitude toward neighborly interactions. Furthermore, community facility usage has a more pronounced effect on forming close neighborhoods compared with other elements of social capital. Finally, community facility usage had less impact on social capital formation among residents of socially mixed public rental housing compared with independent public rental housing.