Meeting in the park: Are dog owners who talk to one another contributing to social capital.....
Summary
Results of in-depth discussions and surveys with dog owners about social contact between people in park environments.The concept of social capital is central to many areas of public policy: from public health, to recreation and urban planning, community development and ecologically sustainable development. Positive social relationships have been linked to improvements in physical and mental health, social cohesion, economic development and the quality of governance.
Dogs promote mostly positive social contact between people and this is a valid form of social capital that has been ignored by most social and urban planners.
A local government embraced the notion of pets as social capital and incorporated it into its repertoire of urban animal management (UAM) tools. Taking this initiative further, in-depth conversations were conducted with a range of people who walk their dogs regularly in a wide cross section of communities. The study examined dog owners talking to one another in the park and outlines the dynamics using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. It explores how and why relationships develop between dog owners, what these relationships mean and their potential role in UAM.