Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between human well-being and forms of community capital in the eight Black Belt counties in the west-central region of Alabama. This region is one of the poorest in the United States with high proportion of African-American populations. Cross-sectional spatial regression models were estimated using the data from the U.S. Population and Economic Census, Geographic Information System, and satellite imageries of 2000. The results indicate that geographic space is highly segregated in these counties and African Americans are less likely to be found in areas high in built, natural, and political capital. Service-providing entities such as financial, industrial, and social capital are located more in urbanized centers. The results suggest that social capital is strongly correlated with human well-being. The findings provide spatially-explicit empirical insights and suggest targeting rural development policies to create more social capital and address specific needs of the region, especially of African-American populations.

Key words: African Americans, census data, land cover, proximity, rural, social capital, spatial.