Under embargo until: 00.01hrs on 12 March 2008

Will some neighbourhoods always be dogged by a bad reputation?

Social class makes it difficult for regeneration projects to change the identities of local neighbourhoods, this is according to a new study published today (12 March) by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

Focusing on three areas with different socio-economic profiles in Scotland, the report – Neighbourhood identity: effects of time, location and social class – found that the identity of a neighbourhood is established at a very early stage in its life and is underpinned by social class and status making it extremely resistant to change. Given this resilience, the initial ambitions – both explicitly stated and implicitly understood – set out when planning a new neighbourhood are crucial.

Douglas Robertson, the report’s lead author, said: “Class is a greater divider than generally acknowledged. One estate in our study was labelled as ‘rough’ and the area, prior to the estate being built, had carried this label for over 500 years. As a result, Right-to-Buy was less popular there than in the other areas examined, and it consistently maintained its poorer ‘working class’ status.”

The study explored why regeneration policies often fail in their objectives and why the reputations of housing estates – good and bad – display a remarkable longevity and resilience to change.

Each area examined was constructed in the 1920s and 1930s as a ‘planned community’, and a neighbourhood’s status was often associated with historic male employment patterns. For example, miners lived in the working class area and professionals lived in the middle class area.

The report found that it is still social class that fixes the dominant identity of a neighbourhood, and although historic employment patterns have altered, these still influence perceptions of the neighbourhood.

Douglas Robertson concluded: “How communities are planned, then established, sets a physical and social template that has a long and sustained impact on neighbourhood identities. Crucially, this study has shown how place identity can act against the stated ambitions of renewal projects and cause social segregation.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The full report, Neighbourhood identity: people, time and place by Douglas Robertson, James Smyth and Ian McIntosh from the University of Stirling, is published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
2. The study examined three neighbourhoods in Stirling, Scotland – Riverside, Raploch and Randolph Road, chosen for their different long-standing socio-economic profiles and social identities. The study blended detailed archival research with in-depth qualitative interviewing.
3. Dr Douglas Robertson will be presenting his Findings at the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland conference in Aberdeen today (12 March).
4. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK. It supports a research and development programme that seeks to understand the causes of social difficulties and explore ways of overcoming them.

Issued by Charlotte Morris, JRF Senior Media Relations Manager: 01904 615 919 / 020 7278 9665 / charlotte.morris@jrf.org.uk