The effect of freeway location on the sociocultural configuration and continuity of neighbourhood is studied. Neighbourhood performs a function in transmission or change of culture. Maximum cultural continuity tends to occur in neighbourhoods where population turnover is minimum, whereas maximum acculturation tends to occur where population turn- over is maximum. The degree of sociocultural stability or change is measured through a mobility index made up from u.s. census data or from city directories. The neighbourhoods function in cultural transmission or change is described by its position on the relative scale of the mobility index. Validity of the mobility index as a descriptor of the effect of variations in freeway location on neighbourhood are tested. Comparative analysis is expected to show that where a freeway segments a neighbourhood, the mobility index will reflect an increase in cultural change, and where a freeway is built along neighbourhood boundaries, the mobility index will either remain stable or reflect a decrease in cultural change. Thus, freeway planning may be more closely correlated with community planning and goals. The mobility index may provide a device to predict and direct freeway influence on the residential neighbourhood.
Abstract