Regeneration or Gentrification? An Intersectional Analysis of Institutional Discrimination in the Regeneration of Tottenham, Post 2011 Riots

In response to the 2011 Tottenham Riot Haringey Council developed a housing regeneration policy, 'A Plan for Tottenham', to correct the underlying issues. However, Tottenham residents, business owners and local interest groups are worried that the plan is resulting in the social and economic dislocation of the existing, predominantly BME, community (Dillon, 2015; Inside Housing, 2015; The Tottenham Independent, 2013). The aim of this research is to critically examine the housing outcomes and consequent socioeconomic impacts of the Tottenham plan on black and white residents in order to explore whether the policy has disproportionately produced racial disparities in outcomes and impacts for the BME population in the ward of Tottenham Hale. Tottenham Hale was designated as a Housing Zone in February 2015 and 2,000 new homes are being built in the area. The objectives of this study are:
- To contribute to the literature on gentrification induced displacement
- To allow the 'voice' of the marginalized to be heard
- To identify areas for policy reform.
The research questions include:
1. What policy ideas did Haringey draw on in the goals of the Tottenham plan and why?
2. What have the impacts of the plan been on housing outcomes for both white and BME residents in Tottenham Hale?
3. What have the socio-economic impacts of the plan been on both white and BME residents in Tottenham Hale?
4. What are the implications of these impacts for more socially just urban regeneration?
Relevant Literature
This research, which utilises the concepts of institutional racism and intersectionality, builds on the literature on the impacts of state-led gentrification in the UK (eg. Lees, 2003,2008; Lees et al, 2008; Watt, 2009), and literature from the US on how gentrification disproportionately impacts black and other ethnic minority groups (eg. Freeman, 2006; Hyra, 2008). It seeks to answer Lees's (2016) recent call for research into race and gentrification in the British context that considers but does not copy the contextually specific work from the US. It also seeks to move the literature on gentrification-induced displacement forward, there have been very few studies to date and they are rather dated (eg Marcuse, 1986; Atkinson, 2000).

There have been no studies of black gentrification in the UK to date, this research will fill that gap. There is limited knowledge of how racial politics have played out in British regeneration schemes.