IN-PERSON Manchester Livable Cities

Abstract

This paper examines how migrant and marginalised communities in York, UK engage with the dominant heritage narratives preserved and projected by the city, and their own diverse cultural heritage. While York is often perceived as a provincial city with a homogenous population, it has, since the post-war period, been home to a rich and diverse range of migrant and refugee communities whose histories remain largely excluded from the city’s heritage discourse. The paper traces how York’s civic institutions consciously shaped the city’s identity as a centre of heritage. In the wake of industrial decline, York’s historic built environment was repurposed as a cultural asset, framed by paternalistic ideals of urban planning towards social reform. These efforts positioned York as a leader in the heritage industry by constructing a selective, exclusionary narrative. Against this backdrop, this paper analyses how post-war migrant and refugee communities experience and navigate this authorised heritage landscape. It investigates the challenges of forging belonging in a city whose spatial and symbolic architecture often marginalises non-dominant identities. This research adopts an innovative, interdisciplinary approach, combining archival analysis with ethnographic fieldwork. It contributes to urban history and conservation studies by examining the politics of heritage, the production of urban space, and the ways in which marginalized groups contest, reinterpret, and contribute to a city’s evolving cultural narrative. This study underscores the importance of recognising migrant and refugee communities as integral to Britain’s heritage discourse and calls for more inclusive practices in heritage interpretation and urban cultural policy.