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10 Cross-Community Integration Issues in Tower Hamlets

10 Cross-Community Integration Issues in Tower Hamlets. Daniel Nilsson DeHanas University of Kent. 1. Population Change. Fastest growing local authority in the country: 196,100 in 2001, to 254,100 in 2011 (+24.6%) Bengalis: consistently 1/3 White British: declining

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10 Cross-Community Integration Issues in Tower Hamlets

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  1. 10 Cross-Community Integration Issues in Tower Hamlets Daniel Nilsson DeHanas University of Kent

  2. 1 Population Change • Fastest growing local authority in the country: 196,100 in 2001, to 254,100 in 2011 (+24.6%) • Bengalis: consistently 1/3 • White British: declining • ‘Other white’: +18,800 • Diversifying growth (Indians, Chinese, Somalis…) Churn: 29% are moving each year

  3. 2 Hard to Reach Groups • Somalis and other new arrivals • Can be poorly understood, or only reached via community leaders • Bengali women • Lowest labour force participation • White East Enders • Concerns must be taken seriously • ‘Invisible’ residents

  4. 3 School Segregation • Most Catholic schools per head of any London borough • White English self-segregation (Dench et al. 2006) • 74% of TH pupils have a first language other than English (highest in UK) • Yet Bengali girls are the highest performing in schools, and TH GCSEs are above national avg.

  5. 4 Parks and Public Spaces • Highly built up area with fewer open spaces • King Edward Memorial Park under threat • Public spaces: • Idea Stores • Bromley by Bow Ctr, St Paul’s Way Ctr… • Mosques, DepARTure…  We need not just ‘social goods’ but ‘public goods’ (Barry Quirk, Lewisham CEO)

  6. 5 Social Inequality • 1 in 5 households earn less that £15K, yet… • Average salary of those working in TH is £58K • Inequalities (housing, income, health, etc.) correlate with poor social outcomes • Social equality leads to “more self-confidence to belong within a diverse patchwork of communities (cohesion), which then leads to gradual integration” (Sircar & Saraswati 2012)

  7. 6 ‘Extremism’ • News of Muslim ‘extremism,’ but few arrests • The real extremes: • Anjem Choudary • EDL, Christian Patrols • Media effects: • Muslims sense ‘secondhand Islamophobia’ • On issues of immigration and race, ‘you are what you read’ (Ipsos MORI 2005)

  8. 7 Fear, Crime, and ASB • Cross-community integration is built on trust, and undermined by: • ‘Postcode wars’ • Anti-social behaviour, drugs, crime • Fear, lack of safety • Responses: police; TH community champions • How can local civic pride be built?

  9. 8 Social Networks • RSA - social networks in New Cross (2010): • Those who value neighbourliness have larger social networks • ‘familiar strangers’ like postman and lollypop lady • Isolated people connect in places like Sainsbury’s • Tower Hamlets cross-community links: • Near Neighbours • Community organising (TELCO) • Other ideas?

  10. 9 Funding Cuts • Cuts to central funds to the local authority and third sector • Still a vibrant voluntary sector in TH • What models of innovative partnerships with Canary Wharf and the City?

  11. 10 Gentrification • Big redevelopment: Shoreditch, Whitechapel • New affluent ‘wave’ of immigrants can be among the least locally connected

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