E-participation and social housing: A nested analysis on the relationship between e-participation and civic engagement.

Livability is a problem in vulnerable neighborhoods with much social housing. As housing corporations play an active role there, they may improve livability by improving community ties and increasing civic engagement. In doing so, housing corporations use e-participation to foster civic engagement. E-participation entails the usage of digital technology to facilitate civic engagement. Therefore, this study quantitatively investigated whether e-participation by housing corporations affects the civic engagement of tenants. In doing so, this study used a nested analysis. A quantitative large n analysis of tenants living in standard neighborhoods (n=415) is combined with a small n mixed methods analysis of an extreme case: neighborhood Het Lage Land (n=67). Using a linear regression for both analyses, this study assessed whether the outcomes of the model stayed the same in a vulnerable neighborhood. Interviews and qualitative survey data were used to explain the results of the small n analysis. The large n analysis found that e-participation is positively and significantly associated with both civic engagement, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The small n analysis found no statistically significant results. Based on the qualitative data, e-participation does not work in Het Lage Land due to a lack of trust amongst tenants and the digital divide. In this neighborhood, tenants lack the digital proficiency to properly use e-participation. Furthermore, as community ties are bad, tenants do not help each other to use e-participation. When designing e-participation, policy makers should thus carefully consider whether this is suitable for the target group.