Compliance and the social space of cities: Variations in compliance with Covid-19 regulations and capital forms in urban communities

Cities' planned and built environments are key to healthier communities. The Covid-19 pandemic challenged this relationship, when the issue of communities' compliance with government restrictions to mitigate the spread of the pandemic became apparent. Despite the growing literature on the relationship between communities' characteristics and Covid-19 throughout the pandemic, little attention has been paid to the drivers of compliance at the city and community levels. Our paper addresses this lack through the Bourdieusian concept of communities' capital resources. Using Israel as a test case, we explore how the economic, social and cultural capital of urban communities affected compliance with Covid-19 related restrictions. The analysis reveals how the spatial dispersion of the components of these forms of capital explains the likelihood of communities' level of compliance. In particular, it shows how the accumulation of various forms of capital increased compliance with health regulations. The study highlights the explanatory power of local resources in collective spatial behavior patterns, as well as the possibility of exacerbating existing injustices.