Challenging images: tackling stigma through estate regeneration

Abstract

English Neighbourhood regeneration initiatives in stigmatised estates have tended not to address the problem of stigma directly, but have largely assumed that an estate’s reputation will improve as material conditions on the estate improve. This article demonstrates the tenacity of stigma even in estates where large-scale regeneration initiatives are underway. It then accounts for the persistence of stigma by providing evidence of how a problem image creates barriers to the spread of knowledge of change. The article concludes by exploring how area-based initiatives could build on this insight in order to develop effective approaches to challenging stigma, thus contributing to sustainable regeneration.

Same Neighbourhood … Different Views? A Confrontation of Internal and External Neighbourhood Reputations

“…Several authors argue that residents hold a different idea of the (reputation of their) neighbourhood than non-residents do (Skifter Andersen, 2001;Arthurson, 2001;Hortulanus, 1995, Hastings andDean, 2003;Murie et al, 2003;Wassenberg, 2004), but there is little empirical support for this idea. The literature generally distinguishes two types of reputation: an internal reputation ─ the reputation the residents hold of their neighbourhood; and an external reputation ─ the neighbourhood's reputation among non-residents.…”

“…The history of a neighbourhood might result in a more negative or positive reputation than the current characteristics would seem to predict (Power, 1997). For example, the North Tyneside neighbourhood of Meadow Well in Northeast England has a notorious name among city residents owing to its original status of a slum clearance area, in which only people of ill repute were thought to live (Hastings and Dean, 2003). Even though a neighbourhood may have improved significantly, its past can have a negative influence on the reputation of an area for a long time.…”

“…The location of a neighbourhood can be an important factor relating to its reputation (Logan and Collver, 1983;Power, 1997;Hastings and Dean, 2003). Costa Pinto (2000) found that the residents of stigmatized neighbourhoods in Portugal thought that the location and the poor accessibility of their neighbourhood were partly responsible for its negative reputation.…”

“…But on the other hand, an isolated location can be perceived as the spatial isolation of groups, emphasizing their separateness. The residents of isolated neighbourhoods are literally outsiders: people with different norms and values who do not blend in with the rest of the city (Hastings and Dean, 2003;Power, 1997, p. 272;Semyonov and Kraus, 1982).…”

“…The concept of reputation is often used by policy makers and academics but it is hardly ever defined in a clear way. An important attribute of the neighbourhood reputation concept is that residents and non-residents -including other city residents (OCR) and, for example, estate agents -may think differently about the reputation of the same neighbourhood (see for example Skifter Andersen, 2001;Hastings and Dean, 2003). Only a limited number of authors back up the theoretical division of internal and external reputation with empirical data (see for example Hastings and Dean, 2003), while little is known about the degree of the differences between internal and external neighbourhood reputations.…”