“No matter where you go, if you mention where you come from, you’re classed as muck.”
Estate resident.
Unpopular estates that have undergone major improvements are still finding themselves stigmatised as ‘problem areas’ despite the large sums being spent on their regeneration.
Research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that a poor local reputation proves hard to shake off, even when living conditions on the estate change for the better. It warns that the millions of pounds invested in improving ‘hard-to-let’ neighbourhoods will produce only limited success unless action is also taken to rebuild their image.
The study of three heavily-stigmatised estates in Birmingham, Newcastle and Edinburgh notes recent regeneration activity that has included the demolition of unpopular blocks and tenements, tenure diversification, landscaping and successful initiatives to reduce crime and unemployment. Yet a series of focus groups and other interviews with more than 200 residents and local non-residents, community leaders, employers and journalists revealed that the areas still suffered a negative image.
While some living in regenerated neighbourhoods regarded their area’s poor reputation as an unjustified slur, others were keen to leave because of continuing stigma. Non-residents who lived nearby were often doubtful that the estates had improved and said they would be reluctant to move there themselves.
The authors, from the University of Glasgow, conclude that private and public sector agencies, ranging from estate agents and local employers to schools and cleansing services, can play an important part in either perpetuating an estate’s ‘problem’ image or in helping to change perceptions.
Although the study does not recommend a single model of best practice for managing the image of estates, it identifies a variety of possible methods. For example:
Appointing an ‘image manager’ to change the way an estate is perceived
Alerting local employers and agencies to the damage that policies like ‘postcode discrimination’ against job applicants cause to neighbourhoods and their residents
Showing local agencies how an estate’s continuing negative image is damaging to commercial interests and service provision
Communicating with local people, using carefully targeted messages for different groups, to nurture existing residents and offer support to newcomers
Making residents more aware of improvements achieved by regeneration and encouraging non-residents to visit
Jo Dean, co-author of the study, said: “It has been assumed for too long that the problem reputation of neighbourhoods will simply disappear in the wake of regeneration measures. Our research shows that continuing stigma undermines the positive results of regeneration and blights the lives of local residents. Regeneration is an essential, prior step to tackling a neighbourhood’s negative reputation. But attention must also be given to image management if money invested in regeneration is to lead to sustainable improvement.”
