Welfare, neighbourhood and new geographies of diversity

May 2013 – December 2014
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Overview

This research was a collaborative pilot project for an anticipated large inter-disciplinary project, which will explore lived experiences of conviviality, sharing and trust as well as of difference, exclusion and tension in Elephant and Castle, a super-diverse inner London neighbourhood.

The research focused on encounters with and interfaces between the everyday lives of residents across the life course (children, young people, adults and the elderly) and local welfare state providers, in a context where local authorities must both make adjustments to respond to a rapidly shifting landscape of diversity, yet also negotiate cuts in welfare provision. Its main aim was to advance social science concepts to capture the new urban realities of super-diverse neighbourhoods; to construct the methodological tools required to research urban super-diversity; and to develop a long-term research engagement that responds to local needs. Research findings will help inform local policy-making and practice at a local level, as well as national and international debates.

Principal Investigator

Mette Louise Berg

Researchers

Ben Gidley, Rachel Humphris, Caroline Oliver, Hiranthi Jayaweera

Funding

The John Fell/OUP Fund