Super-diverse Streets: Economies and spaces of urban migration in UK Cities
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Sociology
Abstract
This project explores the intersection between city streets, social diversity and economic integration. It is a multidisciplinary, comparative analysis of 'super-diverse' high streets that aims to explore how urban retail economies and spaces are shaped by and shape migrant entrepreneurial practices. The project focuses on five high streets within the UK's most diverse cities including: London, Leicester, Manchester, Birmingham and Bradford. Two questions at the heart of urban life and political debate in the UK provide the project's orientation. The first question - 'What is the future of the British high street?' - has publicly resonated since 2008, as high streets struggle with the aftermath of the global economic recession and a parallel increase in technological innovations in online purchasing. The second question focuses on increasing migration into UK Cities over the past two decades, and extends to how urban concentrations of migrants locate, invest in and transform the economies and spaces of UK cities, in particular its urban high streets. The pertinence of 'the changing nature of the UK high street', and questions of 'social diversity' have been highlighted in recent ESRC research initiatives and investments, but as separate rather than related subjects. This project therefore explores macro societal changes, combining migration and shifts in urban retail economies, through the transformation of micro worlds.
In comparing the social, economic and spatial compositions of five high streets in the UK's most diverse cities, the project aims to address empirical and policy gaps in detailed understandings of how contemporary high streets are transformed though urban migration. By focusing on social diversity and urban retail economies the project empirically explores the role of migrant proprietors as part of the UK's high street landscapes, and engages with larger questions of migrant incorporation and urban adaptation. The overarching objective is to define and analyse the 'super-diverse' high street as a complex urban assemblage: to explore connections between the diverse origins and networks of the shop proprietors; their range of retail activities and practices; and the spatial infrastructure that supports and is altered by their endeavours. In developing a comparative evidence base, the research aims to input into policy on high street futures, and to contribute more broadly to understanding how migration transforms our streets and cities.
Three key questions frame the project:
1. What are the appropriate definitions of a 'super-diverse' high street, and how can the composition of spaces and practices provide an analytic lens on the relationship between the retail activities of a high street its migrant proprietors?
2. What broader lessons can be drawn from the comparison of five super-diverse streets, for understanding the role of migrants in transforming urban space and economy?
3. What methodological aspects of this research are replicable for larger comparative studies of migration and urban change?
Five core aspects of the high street will be explored including: social diversity, retail activity, measures of value, spatial infrastructure and stewardship. The project will commence with a socio-economic survey of the proprietors of each street and will include GIS spatial mapping and data visualisation. Focus group workshops will be held with respective local authorities, traders and local organisations to understand how these streets are organised, managed and imagined. The project will be based at LSE Cities, and national and international collaborations will be developed with the 'High Street Future' centre, the 'Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity', and the 'Global Diversities' unit. Public engagement will be actively sought through seminars with academic, policy and third sector organisations, and project information will be shared through a 'Super-diverse streets' project website.
In comparing the social, economic and spatial compositions of five high streets in the UK's most diverse cities, the project aims to address empirical and policy gaps in detailed understandings of how contemporary high streets are transformed though urban migration. By focusing on social diversity and urban retail economies the project empirically explores the role of migrant proprietors as part of the UK's high street landscapes, and engages with larger questions of migrant incorporation and urban adaptation. The overarching objective is to define and analyse the 'super-diverse' high street as a complex urban assemblage: to explore connections between the diverse origins and networks of the shop proprietors; their range of retail activities and practices; and the spatial infrastructure that supports and is altered by their endeavours. In developing a comparative evidence base, the research aims to input into policy on high street futures, and to contribute more broadly to understanding how migration transforms our streets and cities.
Three key questions frame the project:
1. What are the appropriate definitions of a 'super-diverse' high street, and how can the composition of spaces and practices provide an analytic lens on the relationship between the retail activities of a high street its migrant proprietors?
2. What broader lessons can be drawn from the comparison of five super-diverse streets, for understanding the role of migrants in transforming urban space and economy?
3. What methodological aspects of this research are replicable for larger comparative studies of migration and urban change?
Five core aspects of the high street will be explored including: social diversity, retail activity, measures of value, spatial infrastructure and stewardship. The project will commence with a socio-economic survey of the proprietors of each street and will include GIS spatial mapping and data visualisation. Focus group workshops will be held with respective local authorities, traders and local organisations to understand how these streets are organised, managed and imagined. The project will be based at LSE Cities, and national and international collaborations will be developed with the 'High Street Future' centre, the 'Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity', and the 'Global Diversities' unit. Public engagement will be actively sought through seminars with academic, policy and third sector organisations, and project information will be shared through a 'Super-diverse streets' project website.
Planned Impact
This project aims to engage with the wide public interest in 'the future of the high street' that currently abounds across the UK, by introducing the largely unrecognised role of migration in reshaping street-based retail economies. Through the commonplace notation of the street, the project also aims to interject in more narrow political and public debates on migration, by productively engaging with migration as central to urban landscapes and futures across the UK. The ambition is to produce a systematic evidence base to input into policy, to innovate comparative urban methods by incorporating qualitative and quantitative dimensions and data mapping and visualisation, and to conceptually enrich the emerging research field of urban 'super-diversity'.
To fully advance the societal and economic impacts of this research project, the project proposes various platforms of exchange to engage a wide array of users and beneficiaries including: focus group workshops, seminars, an online project site, and publications in both academic and public arena, including where possible, policy recommendations. Further, the project will generate a detailed and comparative database to be publicly available through the ESRC archive.
Who will benefit from this research and how?
1. Academic sector
The collaborative dimensions of this project are founded in relationships with three leading research centres or units: 'High Street Futures' (University of Southampton), the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (University of Manchester) and the 'Global Diversities' unit at the Max Planck Institute. To increase the potential impact of the methodological approach and the research findings, I will meet with these centres at project inception (year 1), project analysis (year 2) and project dissemination (year three stages). I aim to publish three papers in leading academic journals and develop a research monograph proposal to expand the larger empirical and conceptual findings of the project.
2. Government and Policy sectors
There is a distinct policy and planning gap in understanding the role of migration and migrant economies in the composition of UK high streets specifically and in processes of urban transformation more generally. During the third year of the project, three seminars will be arranged to explore dimensions of street economy, street stewardship and street policy. Each seminar will include academics, policy makers and third sector organisations. More particularly, in the second year of study, interviews and focus group workshops will be conducted by the 'Social Life' social enterprise, with local authorities and proprietors from two of the selected streets, to explore how streets are organised, managed and imagined. Reports will be shared with respective local organisations. I aim to write policy-oriented recommendations for government agencies and/or blogs such as the LSE Policy and Politics blog.
3. Third sector and broader publics
In year two and three of the research I will meet with third sector organisations concerned with the policy and planning of streets, such as the Association of Town Centre Management (ACTM) and the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). Project findings will be more broadly disseminated, from the second year of the project through the 'Super-diverse streets' online project site within the LSE Cities.net website, where aspects of data visualisation will allow the complexities of the study to reach a broader audience. The LSE Cities website currently attracts 12,000 users per month, of which 6,500 are new users.
To fully advance the societal and economic impacts of this research project, the project proposes various platforms of exchange to engage a wide array of users and beneficiaries including: focus group workshops, seminars, an online project site, and publications in both academic and public arena, including where possible, policy recommendations. Further, the project will generate a detailed and comparative database to be publicly available through the ESRC archive.
Who will benefit from this research and how?
1. Academic sector
The collaborative dimensions of this project are founded in relationships with three leading research centres or units: 'High Street Futures' (University of Southampton), the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (University of Manchester) and the 'Global Diversities' unit at the Max Planck Institute. To increase the potential impact of the methodological approach and the research findings, I will meet with these centres at project inception (year 1), project analysis (year 2) and project dissemination (year three stages). I aim to publish three papers in leading academic journals and develop a research monograph proposal to expand the larger empirical and conceptual findings of the project.
2. Government and Policy sectors
There is a distinct policy and planning gap in understanding the role of migration and migrant economies in the composition of UK high streets specifically and in processes of urban transformation more generally. During the third year of the project, three seminars will be arranged to explore dimensions of street economy, street stewardship and street policy. Each seminar will include academics, policy makers and third sector organisations. More particularly, in the second year of study, interviews and focus group workshops will be conducted by the 'Social Life' social enterprise, with local authorities and proprietors from two of the selected streets, to explore how streets are organised, managed and imagined. Reports will be shared with respective local organisations. I aim to write policy-oriented recommendations for government agencies and/or blogs such as the LSE Policy and Politics blog.
3. Third sector and broader publics
In year two and three of the research I will meet with third sector organisations concerned with the policy and planning of streets, such as the Association of Town Centre Management (ACTM) and the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). Project findings will be more broadly disseminated, from the second year of the project through the 'Super-diverse streets' online project site within the LSE Cities.net website, where aspects of data visualisation will allow the complexities of the study to reach a broader audience. The LSE Cities website currently attracts 12,000 users per month, of which 6,500 are new users.
People |
ORCID iD |
Suzanne Hall (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Bacon N
(2017)
Supporting Ethnic Minority Traders in Local High Streets
Hall S
(2018)
Migrant margins: The streetlife of discrimination
in The Sociological Review
Hall S
(2016)
Migrant infrastructure: Transaction economies in Birmingham and Leicester, UK
in Urban Studies
Hall SM
(2018)
Migrant Margins: The streetlife of discrimination
in Sociological Review
Hall SM
(2015)
Envisioning Migration: Drawing the infrastructure of Stapleton Road, Bristol
in New Diversities
Hall SM
(2017)
Mooring "Super-diversity" to a Brutal Migration Milieu
in Ethnic and Racial Studies
Description | Situating the research 'Super-diverse Streets' is a comparative analysis of four multi-ethnic high streets located in deprived and culturally diverse parts of UK cities. The research streets include: Rookery Road in Birmingham; Stapleton Road in Bristol; Narborough Road in Manchester; and Cheetham Hill in Manchester. Through face-to-face surveys with 351 proprietors and incorporating 910 street units, the research generates detailed analysis of the social and economic value of high streets, and highlights the role of migration in urban retail practices. Our cross-disciplinary research included socio-economic surveys of proprietors in year 1, and focus-group workshops with proprietors, local interest groups, representative and elected leaders and local authorities in year 2. The research expanded on spatial mapping and data visualisations across global, urban and shop scales. The research period spanned from January 2015 to October 2017, intersecting with the period following the global financial crisis, where state cut-backs were perceptibly hard-felt in the marginalised urban areas we studied. This raised the question of what street livelihoods and economies emerge in conditions of pronounced marginalisation. In addition, the UK General Election in 2015 and the 2016 UK European Membership Referendum occurred while we were conducting fieldwork. The everyday life of the street reflected a national context where questions of borders, outsiders and immigration have been pushed to the public foreground and are part of everyday experience. Street life and livelihoods therefore provide an important lens into how heightened urban inequalities, discrimination and global migration intersect. Key achievements of the project i. The significance of the data Key insights into the role of these street economies include: - Street transactions occur across local and global space, and proprietors drew on extended networks of cross-cultural trade. This challenges culturalist perspectives of 'ethnic enclave' economies. - Street economies comprised of the exchange of goods and services, and extended to trading in favours and practices of care. This was noticeable in the context of reduced public services, where local groups invested in street-based resources to attend to local needs such as feeding schemes and advisory services. - Proprietors had multiple adaptive skills, from multi-lingual proficiencies, tertiary education, and work experience other than trade. This raised questions of why a range of individuals had become proprietors in deprived parts of UK cities, and whether 'race' matters more than class for how individuals become embedded in marginalised urban space. - The four high streets generated an array of employment that is crucial in contexts of urban marginalisation. - Proprietors generally connected to varied social organisations, yet the challenge of how to collectively deal with trade issues, including lines of communication with local authorities, remains. Different streets revealed varied forms of trade associations and communication, and there is scope for local authorities to support this 'people infrastructure' of the street. ii. Conceptual contribution Vertovec's concept of 'super-diversity' (2007) points to more recent processes of accelerated and differentiated migration into the UK. The research confirms processes of diversity-making on the street as: historic (linked to the UK's history of colonisation and intervention); political (linked to border controls and immigration policies); and cultural (emerging through social and economic exchange). The research situates super-diversity within structures of discrimination and practices of multiculture, as expanded in 'Mooring super-diversity in a brutal migration milieu' commissioned by the Ethnic and Racial Studies journal. iii. Methodology The methods were adapted and refined as the research progressed. Two researchers were trained in the survey methodology. Selected methods were applied to an additional research project on the social value of high streets commissioned by the Mayor of London in 2017 and published by the Greater London Authority in the 'High Streets for All' public report. This research was undertaken with architecture and urbanism practice, We Made That. iv. Public reach The research has reached a wide public audience, including several press articles, a BBC One programme on 'Brexit Britain', and a Royal Geographical Society educational podcast on 'Diverse places and ordinary streets' aimed at A-level students. The research is made available in digestible and accessible formats on the 'Super-diverse Streets' website. |
Exploitation Route | • Research and teaching environments: The research engages in migration and marginalisation and relates to subject areas in sociology, human geography and urban economies. It potentially engages A-level students, and university students and academics. Resources include a RGS-IBG podcast, a YouTube video, four open access journal articles and two book chapters. Over the course of 2018, I will be compiling a book manuscript. • Policy: During the research we engaged with local planning officers in Birmingham City Council and Leicester City Council, and the research partner Social Life, produced an open report on 'Supporting ethnic minority traders and business in local high streets and centres' (2016). Key findings of the 'High Streets for All' report have been incorporated into the London Plan. • Public and third sector interest groups: The research has been used by advocacy groups such as Just Space and Citizens UK. The research continues to be presented at policy and practitioner workshops and conferences, engaging with sectors in community services, education, policy and retail. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Education Retail Other |
URL | https://lsecities.net/research/data/cr/phase-1-super-diverse-streets-survey-comparisons-2015/en-gb#/ |
Description | There are four different ways in which the research has been used: 1. Broad use of Data Profiles: In December 2015 we launched the Phase 1 findings of our research, both via a website: https://lsecities.net/research/data/cr/phase-1-super-diverse-streets-survey-comparisons-2015/en-gb#/, and a set of four clear and accessible data profile reports on 'Ethnicity, Economy and Migration' for each of the four cities studied. these are regularly downloaded from our project website, for use by researchers, the general public, the media, and public officials. 2. Media engagements: The research has been used to inform several debates on migration and Brexit across a wide range of media including: a) Printed Press: the 'Leicester Mercury' who published an article on 04/02/16, which was subsequently republished by seven other national newspapers including: The Daily Mirror, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Daily Star, The Metro and the Daily Express, The Financial times. The reports focused on the diverse economic life sustained my migrant retailers in a comparatively deprived part of Leicester. The articles attracted a vast number of comments, some positive, some extremely negative in light of migration politics. b) TV: BBC One programme on 'Brexit: Britain: the street with a dozen words for hello'. c) Internet: Migration Matters education series on 'Six impossible ideas after Brexit'. 3. Academic research: The work has begun to be citied in leading journals, I have given numerous keynote and conference presentation nationally and internationally. 4. Education: I have presented the research at High Schools jn the UK, and have also been interviewed for a podcast for the Royal Geographical Society education programme. |
First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
Sector | Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
Description | Comissioned to prepare and publsih 'High Street for All' report for the Mayor of London, Greater London Authority, research cited therein |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | In 2017 LSE Cities was commissioned with 'We Made That' to qualify the social and economic value of London's High Streets. The findings were published by the Mayor of London's office n a publicly accessible report 'High Street for London', which was cited in the new London Plan. |
URL | https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/high_streets_for_all_report_web_final.pdf |
Description | Arts and Humanities Research Council |
Amount | £565,583 (GBP) |
Funding ID | AH/R007500/1 |
Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2018 |
End | 05/2020 |
Description | High Street For All |
Amount | £40,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Greater London Authority (GLA) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2016 |
End | 04/2016 |
Description | IGA-Rockerfeller Grant |
Amount | £160,044 (GBP) |
Organisation | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
Department | Institute of Global Affairs, LSE |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2017 |
End | 02/2019 |
Description | Philip Leverhulme Prize |
Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2018 |
End | 10/2020 |
Title | Socio-spatial and visaul street survey |
Description | We have established a comparative approach to the socio-spatial survey of street economies, highlighting new measures of economic value, and aligning spatial and social data. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2015 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The basis of this method was subsequently applied to a comparative study of the social value of London's High Streets, as commissioned by the Mayor's office. In addition, I prepared a teaching module on the social value of migrant micro-economies for undergraduate social science students, based on the methodology. |
URL | https://lsecities.net/objects/research-projects/super-diverse-streets |
Title | Detailed data sets on the economic activity of four high streets in Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester and Manchester |
Description | We have collated survey data on 351 proprietors on multi-ethnic high streets in diverse and deprived parts of cities in Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester and Manchester. This includes their economic activity (including where relevant) their migration trajectories. These are collated into excel sheets which will be made publicly available once the research period comes to a close. As an interim measure, we have summarised the date into four 'data profile' reports which are publically available, each with a distinctive DOI. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | It has informed our approach to our commissioned GLA research on 'High Streets for All'. |
URL | https://lsecities.net/research/data/cr/phase-1-super-diverse-streets-survey-comparisons-2015/en-gb#/ |
Description | Collaboration with Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity, University of Manchester |
Organisation | University of Manchester |
Department | Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | On receiving the ESRC grant, I was made an Affiliate Member of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CODE) at the University of Manchester. I have discussed the project methodology with a team at CODE working on the lived experiences of race and ethnicity in Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff and London. Our selected research area of Cheetham Hill intersects with their locality study in Manchester, and I have continued to share and explore our research findings. |
Collaborator Contribution | The contributions focus around discussions of how to research the urban dimensions of race and ethnicity, as well as more specific sharing of data around the specific and shared research site at Cheetham Hill. |
Impact | I presented a paper on 'Placing Migration: The urban production of diversity and discrimination' at the CODE panel on 'Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding Ethnicity and Place', at the annual Royal Geographical Society conference in August 2016. |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Collaboration with Max Nathan, University of Birmingham |
Organisation | University of Birmingham |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | In 2017 Max Nathan and I worked together on a symposium on 'Urban Incubators and Inequality: Sharing and work in divided cities' held at the LSE for a range of policy, practitioner and academic groups involved in working with urban workspace, as questions of ethnicity and migration. Max and co-ordinated the symposium together. |
Collaborator Contribution | Max drew on existing research, policy and practitioner networks to get a good mix of participants at the symposium. Max wrote up the key challenges and findings in two blog posts for LSE Business Review (October 2017) and Urban Transformations (October 2017). |
Impact | Blog post on 'Urban incubators, Innovation and Inequality': http://www.urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/blog/2017/urban-incubators-innovation-and-inequality/ |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Collaboration with the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, University of Birmingham |
Organisation | University of Birmingham |
Department | Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | In 2016 we engaged on numerous occasions with Professor Monder Ram at CREME, both on the general findings of my research as well as specific implications in Birmingham. 1. I presented a paper on 'Social Economies of the Street' at the 20th Annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference hosted by CREME, where over a hundred delegates from commerce, banking, retail, politics and research backgrounds were present. |
Collaborator Contribution | 1. In 2016 we co-hosted a public exchange workshop in Birmingham with local traders, community organisations and city council members to explore the challenges of how ethnic minority traders are engaged with and represented at neighbourhood and. city levels. Monder's existing contacts and networks, as well as his intellectual input, were key to the event. 2. Monder provided a keynote to this project's knowledge exchange event on 'Urban Incubators and Inequality: Sharing and work in divided cities' held at LSE in September 2017 . He reflected on the implications of policy and research shifts required to incorporate ethnic minority enterprise in the economic and social understanding of urban life. |
Impact | 20th Annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference; Symposium on 'Urban Incubators and Inequality: Sharing and work in divided cities' |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Gottingen, Germany |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have been asked to attend to workshops and to produce papers with the expectation of publication: 1. At an international workshop on 'The Infrastructures of Diversity' held at the MPI on the 9th and 10th of July 2015, we presented a paper on 'Migrant Infrastructure and civic diversities'. Our paper on 'Envisioning Migration: Drawing the infrastructure of Stapleton Road in Bristol' has been approved for publication in MPI's 'New Diversities' journal, subject to minor revisions. 2. At an international workshop on 'Super-Diversity: A transatlantic conversation' held at CUNY on the 4th and 5th of April 2016, and partly supported by the MPI, I will present a paper on 'Elaborating Migration: Urban (Super)diversity and discrimination', with the expectation of publication edited by the conference organisers. |
Collaborator Contribution | The MPI for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity has created the opportunity for me to test out my research findings in two high level, international workshops. In each case the avenue for publication is in place. The MPI has provided funds for my travel, accommodation and subsistence, as well as the opportunity for me and my research associates to spend time at the MPI research institution to meet colleagues working in similar fields. |
Impact | 1. Multi-disciplinary workshops (involving researchers in anthropology, sociology and planning): - 'Infrastructures of Diversity', MPI, 9 & 10 July, 2015. - 'Super-diversity: A Transatlantic conversation', 4 & 5 April, 2016. 2. Papers emerging from workshops: - 'Envisioning Migration: Drawing the infrastructure of Stapelton Road, Bristol' (Published in New Diversities in 2015). 3. Ethnic and Racial Studies (ERS) 50th Anniversary Special Issue, July 2017. On the basis of my research on 'super-diversity' and engagement with the MPI, I was commissioned by the editors of ERS to write a commentary and analysis of Vertovec's original seminal essay published in 2007 on 'Super-diversity and its implications', to be published in the landmark issue celebrating the journal's 50th anniversary. Vertovec is the Director of the MPI. My article on has been accepted for publication in the issue. |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Partnership with Social Life |
Organisation | Social Life |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Social Life is a social enterprise created by the Young Foundation in 2012, and focuses on research on the social life of communities, including their practices and how planning effects this. Across 2016, I worked alongside Social Life, to explore whether ethnic minority traders in local high streets are collectively organised, and whether they are supported by local authorities. 1. I participated in all meetings and forums arranged by Social Life, both in the capacity of presenting early research findings to varied groups, as well as listening to their perspectives on trade and support. 2. With Social Life, I met with planning officials twice at the Birmingham City Council to present research and to learn about their local centre initiatives. 3. I presented research findings to a consortium of participants based in Birmingham, including local traders, advocacy groups and community trusts, in a forum arranged by Social Life. 4. I participated in a workshop with traders from Leicester, arranged by Social Life. |
Collaborator Contribution | Based on the first year of research conducted in 2015, Social Life were appointed as a research partner to conduct community-based research into different forms of support required by traders in two of our four case studies: Birmingham and Leicester. 1. Their research culminated in a free access report on 'Supporting Ethnic Minority Traders and Business in Local High Streets and Centres', published online in November 2016. 2. In Birmingham their key community engagements included: - Scoping conversations with four council officers, one local councillor, three current or former BID managers, and four representatives of civil society organisations. - A workshop on the 20th of July (co-hosted with CREME), with local traders, advocacy groups and community trusts, and local authorities. 3. In Leicester their key community engagements included: - Scoping conversations with 38 traders, three faith organisations, two community centre representatives, an NGO, and two members of the local authority. - A workshop on the 11th of July with traders and a member of the local authority. - A two-month period of support for Narborough Road traders to set up a WhatsApp network for the purposes of sharing information regularly and collective organisation. |
Impact | 1. A technical report (multi-disciplinary, including inputs from sociology, planning and community advocacy). The report offers 7 key messages for planning and policy connected to ethnic minority trade in local high streets. 2. A traders' WhatsApp group. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Title | We have devloped a distinctive visual composition of our survey work |
Description | Our visual mapping of our socio-spatial surveys has advanced ways of communicating complex data about migration and street economies, from proprietors' origins, journeys, types of retail, and shop compositions |
Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
Year Produced | 2015 |
Impact | The visuals are stored on a publically accessible website, available for research and teaching purposes. |
URL | https://lsecities.net/research/data/cr/phase-1-super-diverse-streets-survey-comparisons-2015/en-gb# |
Description | A conference presentation on 'Placing Migration' at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) annual conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | The Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CODE) - a project collaborator - convened a panel on 'Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding ethnicity and place' at the annual Royal Geographical Society Conference. This panel generated key discussions around the role of place and space in social analysis, and has helped me to refine thoughts for a further research paper. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | A presentation on 'Migrant Street' at the Venice Biennale session on 'Shaping Cities' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was a large-scale public event on 'Shaping Cities' including an audience of around 500 people comprised of the general public, practitioners and the media. A You Tube film clip of the talk was also released. I had several follow up for more information, and participation in other events. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVt08CEVMk8 |
Description | A presentation on 'Social Economies of the Street' at the 20th Annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference, Fazely Studis, Birmingham hosted by CREME |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | This was a large-scale event aimed at a range of retailers, the banking sector, policy makers, addressing the key issue of how to progress and support Ethnic Minority Enterprise. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/business/research/creme/events/2016/october/creme20.aspx |
Description | A public presentation at 'The London Conference', an international conference for built environment professionals and policy makers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This is a large-scale annual conference, where I was able to introduce key idea about the role of migrant micro-economies in the economic life of urban margins. It brought a different perceptive in to more conventional understanding of who counts and what matters in the economic life of cities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.centreforlondon.org/conference/the-london-conference-2017/ |
Description | BBC One documnatery on 'Brexit Britain: The street with a dozen words for hello' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The research on Narborough Road formed a key part of a short documentary aired on BBC One. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-37255827 |
Description | Keynote lecture on 'Ethnography and the City' for the Annual Ethnography Symposium hosted at the University of the West of England |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This keynote was pitched at ethnographers in various fields in the social and management sciences, and my key input was to expand on the use of visual methods in social research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://lsecities.net/archives/suzanne-hall-to-give-keynote-address-at-the-11th-annual-ethnography-s... |
Description | Keynote lecture on 'Migrant Diversities' at a Sociological Review Symposium at the University of Kent |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | This event was an opportunity to talk about our early research findings, and explore both the data and theories around the data with a national academic audience that included postgraduate students. In our keynote and discussions that followed, we explored how policy and economic structures disperse migrants into different sectors of the city, and into street-based retail. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/news-events/streetlife-symposium.html |
Description | Keynote lecture on 'Migrant Infrastructure' at the Divided Cities Workshop hosted at the University of Oxford |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | This was an interdisciplinary workshop aimed at understanding different forms of representing social divisions in urban life. I focused on how to capture the cultural life of economies in parts of cities which are historically marginalised. I was subsequently approached by one of the conference organisers to partner in a British Academy conference scheme. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://torch.ox.ac.uk/divided-cities-culture-infrastructure-and-urban-future-1 |
Description | Keynote lecture on 'Migrant Livelihoods' for the TLANG Network Assembly, hosted by the Birmingham Musuem Trust |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
Results and Impact | This event explored different ways of understanding communication in the super-diverse city, and included practitioners from the fields of heritage, business, sport and law. This expanded my sense of the ways intuitions engage with or aim to engage with diverse urban citizens, and I talked with practitioners in museums in particular. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://tlangblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/communication-in-the-superdiverse-city-a-network-event-2/ |
Description | Keynote lecture on 'Race, Migration and the City' at the Yale Built Environment Symposium at Yale University. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | The audience comprised largely of built environment students and practitioners, and provided an opportunity to talk about the overlap between social and spatial research. Key conversations that followed related to how social analysis is incorporated into curricula at architecture and planning schools. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://lsecities.net/archives/suzanne-hall-delivers-keynote-at-yale/ |
Description | Keynote lecture on 'Urban Politics from the Margins' at the Summer School of Urban Studies at the University of Vienna |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | At this annual summer school for urban scholars in architecture, planning, geography and sociology, I engaged in questions of urban migration, and the relationships between national migration politics and local forms of resistance. In our discussions we explored how to engage with the complexities of public space and how these relate to larger societal processes, such as migration. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://unicasummerschools.eu/school/univie-summer-school-urban-studies-2016 |
Description | Lecture on 'Migrant Margins: the street life of discrimination' given at the Urban Studies Seminar in Sheffield & the RC21 Annual International Sociological Association In Leeds |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | These two lectures are part of winding up some of the key research and thinking from the project, and testing these with wider academic audiences. This has been crucial feedback for me in terms of how to take the research forward in teaching and writing. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
Description | Lecture on 'Researching super-diverse streets' as part of the Sadler Seminar at Leeds, University of Leeds |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | I was invited to interact with scholars on the Leeds Voices project, who are exploring connections between diversity, migration and markets, specifically from the perspective of language and communication. We discussed research findings, as well as exchanging detailed information on research methods. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.latl.leeds.ac.uk/events/superdiversity-and-trans-ethnography/ |
Description | Paper on 'Migrant Differentiation' given at a invited workshop on 'Super-diversity- A transatlantic conversation' at the CUNY Graduate Centre, New York |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This workshop was a transatlantic conversation about the theoretical and empirical value of 'super-diversity'. I t was attended by an array of international scholars and has helped to broaden my research network. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.mmg.mpg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Flyer_Events/2016/2016-04-04_Transatlantic-Conversation_... |
Description | Paper on 'Migrant Infrastructure' given at a invited workshop at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Ethnic Diversity, Gottingen |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | At this international conference on infrastructures of urban diversity, we presented early findings from our research, giving us space to explore our research ideas and avenues with international colleagues and postgraduate students. This resulted in a request to publish our paper in the 'New Diversities' journal. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.mmg.mpg.de/events/workshops-conferences/2015/the-infrastructures-of-diversity-materiality... |
Description | Paper on 'Mooring Super-diversity to a Brutal Migration Milieu' given at a invited workshop on 'Cosmopolitanism Revisted' at Science Po and INALCO, Paris |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This presentation build on a network with Philip Kasinitz at CUNY, and explores comparative approaches to thinking about cities and migration. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.inalco.fr/evenement/cosmopolitanism-revisited-comparative-perspectives-urban-diversity-gu... |
Description | Paper presentation on 'Elaborating Migration' at the Urban Salon workshop on 'Differentiated Mobilities in Contested Cities' at UCL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | This event gave me the opportunity to present our research findings to an international group of scholars and academics who broadly work on the theme of 'mobility' and contested cities. The audience was particularly interested in the visual aspect of our research, and we have referred researchers to our visual data base on our website: https://lsecities.net/research/data/cr/phase-1-super-diverse-streets-survey-comparisons-2015/en-gb#/ |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.ucl.ac.uk/urbanlab/events/differentiated-mobilities-in-contested-cities-towards-comparati... |
Description | Part one of video based education series on 'Six Impossible Ideas After Brexit' devloped by Migration Matters |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This education series by Migration Matters has been widely viewed by an international audience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://migrationmatters.me/course/six-ideas/ |
Description | Presentation on 'Miaking Cities for all Citizens' at the Open House Worldwide conference, London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This event is an international conference for planning and design professionals who were seeking to explore a range of approaches to increasing citizen participation in urban processes of change. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.openhouseworldwide.org/conference/ |
Description | Presentation on 'Migrant differentiation' at a workshop on 'Managing Migration: Solutions beyond the nation state', Ortiga Businees School & LSE's IGA |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | This was a two-day event that included policy makers, practitioners, NGO's and media, to explore ways of managing migration at city levels. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.ortygiabs.org/sites/default/files/programme_-_managing_migration_-_18-19_april_2016_syrac... |
Description | Press release on new data profiles on 'Ethnicity, Economy and Migration' on the web, and via e-balst |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | After completing the first phase of our field work on the street economies of urban migration on respective streets in Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester and Manchester, we launched a website in November 2015 for easy access to our four data profile reports on each street in each city respectively, as a way of easily surfacing across the data, to compare each street. The e-blast advertising the web launch went to over 10,000 interests groups and individuals in academia, research centres, media, local governments, and planning and design practitioners. Over November and December of 2015 we recorded 207 views of the site, as well as substantial media interest. This resulted in an article on our research in Leicester circulated in newspapers across the UK in February 2016, including: the Leicester Mercury (03.02); The Daily Mirror (04.02), The Daily Telegraph (04.02), The Daily Star (04.02), The Daily Express (04.02), The Sun (04.02) and the Metro (04.02). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://lsecities.net/research/data/cr/phase-1-super-diverse-streets-survey-comparisons-2015/en-gb#/ |
Description | Symposium for postgraduate researchers on 'Migrant Streets: Exploring radical visualisation' at LSE Cities |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This event aimed to engage postgraduate students who are researching how migration influences the formation of city streets across Europe, Africa and Asia, and included students researching in Kampala, Cape Town, Karachi and Jakarta. In particular, we focused on how drawings and visualisations are integral to the research process. In addition, the project's two research assistants helped to co-ordinate this event as key to their development. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://lsecities.net/media/objects/events/migrant-streets-exploring-radical-visualisation |
Description | Symposium on 'Urban Incubators and Inequality' with Max Nathan (University of Birmingham) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We hosted a symposium on questions of shared workplaces in divided cities, and included people from planning and design practice, as well as policy makers. This event led to further involvement in other public engagement activities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://medium.com/@maxnathan/urban-incubators-innovation-inequality-a-new-research-agenda-24be27920... |
Description | Talk to 'Publica', a public space consultancy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This talk served to share methodologies and approaches for understanding economic life on city streets, with practitioners who are often commissioned to analyse and intervene in streetscapes and town centres. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Talk to A level students at the Charter School, London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | This talk on 'Migrant Streets' was given to A level students, first on the 21st of February and later on the 10th of July. the purpose was to expose students to different was of understanding and measuring economic vitality in deprived parts of cities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Workshop on 'Super-diverse streets' with MA students from Yale School of Architecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I gave a two-hour workshop on the multi-disciplinary nature of the 'super-diverse streets' research, with implications for politically engaged research and possible impacts on planning and policy. The workshop was with MA students from the Yale School of Architecture and the Yale School of Environmental Studies. I subsequently received an invitation to give the keynote address at the 'Yale Built Environment Symposium' on 1 April 2016. The purpose of the symposium is to explore the interdisciplinary potential of work to transform the urban environment, and will include industry leaders, and multi-disciplinary groups of academic and students from Yale, Harvard, Penn and Columbia, in disciplines including architecture, planning, environmental studies and international studies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://ybes2016.squarespace.com/speakers/ |
Description | Workshop on supporting ethnic minority traders: Birmingham, St Mary's Centre, Handsworth |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | This workshop was run by Social Life as part of the research project, and convened local participants including traders, BID leaders, council officials, NGO's to explore what support could be given to traders in local high streets. This workshop informed the report published by Social Life in 2016. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.social-life.co/publication/supporting_ethnic_minority_traders/ |
Description | Workshop with traders on Narborouh Road, covened by Social Life, East West Community Centre, Leicester |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | This workshop was run by Social Life as part of the research project, and convened local participants including traders and council officials, to explore what support could be given to traders in local high streets. This workshop informed the report published by Social Life in 2016. It also led to Social Life giving support to traders to set up a WhatsApp group to share information. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.social-life.co/publication/supporting_ethnic_minority_traders/ |