"Measuring Social Capital" in the urban area
Full report (summary) of the activating Social Capital survey in the residential area of the third district of Vienna, „Fasanviertel“

Point of departure

In 2001 the OECD initiated the international research program „Measuring Social Capital“. On the basis of this program several surveys on social capital have taken place in Austria. The administration of the Vienna city council has chosen the „Fasanviertel“ in the third district for a survey on social capital, because it already was part of a evaluation program the administration had launched. The „Fasanviertel“ is situated in the area between Landstraßer Gürtel – Jaquingasse – Rennweg and the regional train (S-Bahn).

What was the approach to research in detail?

• We started with the indicators for written interviews according to the international OECD-research program „Measuring Social Capital“. Combined with test items on the topics: health, mental state, quality of life, Sense of Coherence and socio economic characteristics.
• The questionnaire was sent to every citizen of the district (who is entitled to vote). Through the he survey a consciousness building process towards the importance of social capital started (activating Social Capital research).

What is the direct gain for the Vienna administration in detail?

• More knowledge about the effect of social ties in fields like family, friends, neighborhood, associations, church and politics.
• Comparisons between different communal structures and their strengths and weaknesses are possible.
• By repeating the survey, it is possible to evaluate the effects of the undertaken measures.

What scale has the Social Capital survey?

In the district the whole population was addressed. Every citizen who was entitled to vote got a questionnaire.

Empiric results / sample structure

We want to present some selected results of the statistical analysis. The complete and  detailed data file of Social Capital survey on the „Fasanviertel“ is available separately. From 9.118 questionnaires, 748 (8,2%) where returned in time and could be used for our work. 62% where female 38% male.

Social Capital on three levels

• Micro

Social Capital on the individual level means other individuals which are close to you; you can rely on in a crisis, help you if you are in trouble, and you can open up to. And the other way round. 55% of the respondents have a fairly strong social capital on this level. Meanwhile 45% have a rather weak social capital. The median (most answered) has 4 to 9 such persons (41%). Followed by 2 to 3 persons (36%). In this context the respondents were asked, where these “close to” persons are situated. 89% of them are in the category “family/relationship”, 70% are friends and family outside the „Fasanviertel“. Only 23% answered, that these persons are friends and family within the “Fasanviertel”.

• Intermediate/Meso

Social Capital on the intermediate level means, persons, which are not that close, but you are in contact on a regular basis with. The results are similar to the micro level. 46% have a weak and 54% a strong social capital on the intermediate level. One interesting result is that the residents in the Jacquingasse have a stronger social capital on the intermediate level than the residents in the other streets. 69% in comparison to 54%. The most frequent answer is 11 to 30 persons (35%), followed by 4 to 10 persons (28%). 51% of these persons are in the category “colleagues” and 42% are distant relatives. An additional question was where these persons live. The majority (72%) lives outside the “Fasanviertel” while only 5% are living in the same area as the respondents.

• Macro

On the macro level social capital is measured in terms of strong emotions, strong identification with an single Idea, object or an outstanding personality. 69% showed a rather low, while 31% a rather high level of identification. In this context, the situation mentioned most often are: “art/music/literature” (80%), “profession/work/education” (75%) and “sports/leisure time” (68%). Church pays with only 30% not an important role.

Trust in institutions and attitude towards democracy

If you take a look at the data you can see, that the respondents trust the educational system the most. On a scale from 1 (big trust) to 5 (no trust at all) the results are: “educational system” (2,65), “healthcare and retirement” (2,81), “political system” and “police/justice” with 2,94. On the last rank we find the media with a score of 3,4.

In the direct comparison between “governmental institutions” (2,87) , “private enterprises” (3,12) and NGO´s, the latter wins with a score of 2,24. The questions on the topic elections showed, that 75% of the respondents think that national elections are rather important. Followed by regional elections (63%), and elections to the European parliament (53%).

Identification on local and regional level

According to the data on personal identification, we can say, that three quarters of the respondents have a strong identification with “Austria”. But there is a significant difference between respondents with Austrian nationality and immigrants. (59% in comparison to 15%). Austrians see themselves not as much as Europeans as immigrants (66%, 75%). The same if we look at the identification with Vienna (42%, 58%). The identification with the residential area “Fasanviertel” increases with the time the respondents spent here.

Mental state and quality of living

The vast majority of the respondents, 80%, think there is a meaning of life or something to live for. Only 17% experience disappointments on a regular basis. Asked about the actual mental state, the respondents answered: 42% “happy most of the time”, 34% „changing“, 24% „happy, balanced“ and only 1% answered “unhappy/sad all the time”.

Only 49% say that the quality of living in the “Fasanviertel” is at least good. And this is not related to the duration spent in the area. The general quality of living in the third district is rated better (68%) and asked about

Vienna the respondents are quite positive (79%). The items concerning financial status and leisure time have the worst ratings. Only 58% and 62% say the situation is at least good.

Epilogue

This survey about Social Capital should be the basis for measures to improve the social coherence and integration in this area. The measures are planned and executed by the GB3/. The socialcap.at-Team contributes by giving advice.

To show the effect of the undertaken measures in the area, and to adapt, we recommend a second evaluation survey in two years.