Problem
People need an identifiable spatial unit to belong to.
Solution
Help people to define the neighborhoods they live in, not more than 300 yards across, with no more than 400 or 500 inhabitants. In existing cities, encourage local groups to organize themselves to form such neighborhoods. Give the neighborhoods some degree of autonomy as far as taxes and land controls are concerned. Keep major roads outside these neighborhoods.
Related Patterns
… the Mosaic of Subcultures (8) and the Community of 7000 (12) are made up of neighborhoods. This pattern defines the neighborhoods. It defines those small human groups which create the energy and character which can bring the larger Community of 7000 (12) and the Mosaic of Subcultures (8) to life.
Mark the neighborhood, above all, by gateways wherever main paths enter it — Main Gateways (53) — and by modest boundaries of non-residential land between the neighborhoods — Neighborhood Boundary (15). Keep major roads within these boundaries perhaps a common or a green — Accessible Green (60) — or a Small Public Squares (61); and arrange houses and workshops within the neighborhood in clusters of about a dozen at a time — House Cluster (37), Work Community (41) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 80