Social connections to neighbors and NIMBYism among public housing residents in Seoul

The study examines whether and how transitions into and out of social connections with neighbors have asymmetric effects on residents' attitudes toward the siting of locally unwanted land uses—commonly referred to as “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) responses. These facilities, like special schools or public housing, may benefit society, but are often opposed locally due to perceived harms. We used data from the Seoul Public Rental Housing Panel Survey ( N = 6317). An asymmetric fixed effects model was employed to separately estimate the associations for transitioning into and out of social connections to neighbors. Additionally, gender‐stratified models were used to examine whether the asymmetric effects of these transitions differ by gender. Transitioning out of social connection to neighbors is associated with an increase in NIMBYism ( b = 0.149), which was larger than the decrease observed when transitioning into social connections to neighbors ( b = −0.064). These effects were more pronounced for women than for men. Policymakers should consider initiatives that strengthen community bonds as a strategy to reduce NIMBYism and promote inclusive neighborhood planning.