There is no theoretical reason to assume that neighborhood effects operate at a constant single spatial scale across multiple urban settings or over different periods of time. Despite this, many studies use large, single-scale, predefined spatial units as proxies for neighborhoods. Recently, the use of bespoke neighborhoods has challenged the predominant approach to neighborhood as a single static unit. This article argues that we need to move away from neighborhood effects and study multiscale context effects. The article systematically examines how estimates of spatial contextual effects vary when altering the spatial scale of context, how this translates across urban space, and what the consequences are when using an inappropriate scale, in the absence of theory. Using individual-level geocoded data from The Netherlands, we created 101 bespoke areas around each individual. We ran 101 models of personal income to examine the effect of living in a low-income spatial context, focusing on four distinct regions. We found that contextual effects vary over both scales and urban settings, with the largest effects not necessarily present at the smallest spatial scale. Ultimately, the magnitude of contextual effects is determined by various spatial processes, along with the variability in urban structure. Therefore, using an inappropriate spatial scale can considerably bias (upward or downward) spatial context effects.

没有理论上的理由假设邻里效应在多个城市环境或不同时间段内以恒定的单一空间尺度运行。尽管如此，许多研究使用大型、单尺度、预定义的空间单元作为邻域的代理。最近，定制社区的使用挑战了将社区作为一个单一静态单元的主要方法。本文认为，我们需要摆脱邻里效应，研究多尺度环境效应。本文系统地研究了在没有理论的情况下，当改变背景的空间尺度时，空间背景效应的估计值如何变化，这如何在城市空间中转化，以及在没有理论的情况下使用不适当的尺度会产生什么后果。使用来自荷兰的个人级地理编码数据，我们围绕每个人创建了 101 个定制区域。我们运行了 101 个个人收入模型，以检查生活在低收入空间环境中的影响，重点关注四个不同的地区。我们发现，环境影响在规模和城市环境中有所不同，最大的影响不一定存在于最小的空间尺度上。最终，环境影响的大小取决于各种空间过程以及城市结构的可变性。因此，使用不适当的空间尺度会显着偏向（向上或向下）空间上下文效应。最大的影响不一定出现在最小的空间尺度上。最终，环境影响的大小取决于各种空间过程以及城市结构的可变性。因此，使用不适当的空间尺度会显着偏向（向上或向下）空间上下文效应。最大的影响不一定出现在最小的空间尺度上。最终，环境影响的大小取决于各种空间过程以及城市结构的可变性。因此，使用不适当的空间尺度会显着偏向（向上或向下）空间上下文效应。