The long-term impact of social mixing policies on neighbourhood reputations

: a comparative study between Ponte Lambro in Milan and the New Deal for Communities area in Bristol

Abstract

The fight against neighbourhood effects has been led by urban renewal policies through ethnicity, income and tenure mixing as well as demolition and poverty deconcentration strategies. These saw in the (perceived) homogeneity of the working-class social housing neighbourhood the spatialisation of deviance and disadvantage. While the existing literature has been critical in evaluating the impact of social mixing policies, particularly focusing on community cohesion, social mobility and wellbeing, studies have focused on short-term outcomes, neglecting longer-term assessments, especially in Europe. This thesis explores the impact of two government-led social mixing schemes (New Deal for Communities, Bristol; Contratto di Quartiere, Milan) by examining whether there have been improvements in the long run in internal and external neighbourhood reputations - as aspired by the policies - through a comparative and longitudinal qualitative analysis of discourse. The internal neighbourhood reputation is informed by focus groups and interviews, alongside remote Participatory Photo Mapping, with residents of the inner-city NDC area in Bristol and of Ponte Lambro, peripheral neighbourhood in Milan. Whereas the evolution of the external neighbourhood reputation in both contexts is investigated through the Critical Discourse Analysis of local newspaper articles mentioning the two urban areas before and after the implementation of the social mixing policies. Research findings demonstrate that local interventions involving community participation and long-term plans do not automatically correspond to positive reputations and that territorial stigmas can persist in contexts of urban divide and socio-economic inequalities. Although, in both contexts, reputations have not significantly improved, the neighbourhood of Ponte Lambro is still experiencing mainly negative discourse from both media and the local community of residents; whilst the reputations of Bristol’s NDC area appear to clash more substantially, as the increased negative external reputation does not meet the more mixed or balanced perceptions of participants. By offering case study recommendations based on the research findings, this thesis concludes that both comparative and longitudinal approaches in qualitative urban research should be prioritised to provide an integrated picture of policy aims and impacts over time, at both the neighbourhood and the city levels.

Date of Award	5 Dec 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	David J Manley (Supervisor) & Julie MacLeavy (Supervisor)