Migration, Neighborhood Change, and the Impact of Area-Based Urban Policy Initiatives

Abstract

The focus in this chapter is on the relationship between migration and neighborhood change. The chapter reviews the relationship between urban deprivation, residential mobility patterns, and urban regeneration policy, commenting on theoretical concepts and empirical findings in earlier studies. It makes extensive use of small area statistics from the UK Population Census, linking together migration data at the most detailed spatial level, Output Areas, with a geodemographic classification system. This provides some interesting insights about the structure of residential mobility in urban areas. The chapter proceeds to examine the impact of urban policy in the Merseyside region, as part of the EU Objective One programme. It uses a matched comparison method to examine the impact of the Pathways area-based initiative upon migration flows to and from Pathways Areas. Its key finding is that the Pathways programme had a significant impact upon residential stability.