IN-PERSON: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

Under the banner of creating balanced and inclusive communities, London’s social housing estates are routinely being demolished and restructured into mixed-tenure developments altering their residents’ income and social mix. Mixed-income communities are expected to mitigate the harmful impacts of growing up in areas with high levels of deprivation. However, European-based evidence for the effects of neighbourhood social mixing on low-income young people is lacking, while research with adult residents has produced inconclusive results. This study explored the mechanisms through which social housing mixed income regeneration influences the wellbeing of young people from lower-income families. It draws on an in-depth examination of teenagers’ experiences at a redeveloped London council estate. A mix of observation and participatory methods, semi-structured interviews and document analysis was adopted. Seventy six people participated in the study, including 40 teenagers (12-19 years) and 36 adult stakeholders. It is found that young people faced barriers to benefiting from their neighbourhood’s regeneration, and that their wellbeing was undermined through processes of stigmatisation, exclusion, inequalities, worsening material wellbeing, community fragmentation and diminished place identity. These socio-structural and institutional processes impeded on participants’ wellbeing opportunities including their being safe, playing, socialising with friends, respected, having a sense of belonging, influencing decisions affecting their lives, and material, emotional and mental wellbeing. Findings also showed that supportive youth spaces and strong community action could mitigate some of these harmful effects. By foregrounding the voices and experiences of young people, the paper offers a unique contribution to the social mix academic and policy debates.