Fostering social capital: the case of community-owned pubs

This paper aims to examine the relationship between community-owned enterprises and social capital in urban neighbourhoods. Focussing on community-owned pubs (COPs), the paper investigates how social capital elements have a role in generating these innovative organizations, which foster benefits for community members.

Findings – The paper shows how COPs foster the creation and accumulation of social capital both among their members (bonding capital) and the people living in the neighbourhood (bridging capital). Because of their missions and governance models, COPs create linkages among different people and enable citizens to act together for the common good, thus strengthening the development of a local community and contributing to enhancing the urban regeneration process.