Sustaining area-based initiatives by developing appropriate ‘anchors’: The role of social capital

This paper focuses on ‘anchoring,’ understood as the process of building project-based organizational networks, or ‘anchors’, in order to sustain the efforts of area-based initiatives (ABIs) after they leave their targeted neighbourhoods. Drawing on the scholarly literature on social capital and an empirical examination of three different cases from an ABI in Copenhagen, the paper highlights why and how particular models of ‘anchors’ develop in specific local contexts. We conclude by emphasizing the value of the lens of social capital, particularly, in the ABIs’ strategic efforts towards ‘anchoring’.