Constructing an Integrated Society: Historical Lessons for Tackling Black and Minority Ethnic Housing Segregation in Britain

Abstract

Persistent segregation in deprived inner areas of British cities can be seen as both a symptom and a cause of ethnic inequalities, and as an indicator of the failure of minority ethnic groups to integrate into wider society. This paper takes an historical perspective, tracing shifting emphases of political discourses and policy approaches to minority ethnic residential segregation and inclusion, and setting these alongside broader understandings of governmental social control. The paper reflects on episodes of post-1945 intervention into settlement patterns and housing circumstances, and highlights key problematic experiences associated with certain kinds of ‘top-down’ interventions going beyond ethnicity. It is concluded that neither demolitions nor dispersal are very likely to generate social integration, unless they reflect and reinforce positive adaptation strategies that minority ethnic households already tend to pursue. The keys to constructive social development lie primarily outside the realms of housing renewal and governmental strategies for social engineering.