Population superdiversity and new migrant enterprise: The case of London

Abstract

This article aims to contribute towards an improved empirical and conceptual understanding of the recent dramatic growth in migrant enterprises within London. Taking as its starting point the emergence of increasingly diverse populations within many urban and regional contexts, the article draws upon the concept of ‘superdiversity’ to develop a contextual analysis of the development of new migrant enterprise. In the absence of existing data, the research method combines secondary materials with primary observational and interview data in relation to six new arrival communities. The results provide a description of the changing context for migrant business within London, mapping the emergence of new forms and geographies of enterprise. The analysis is developed through an examination of processes of business start up and growth, and integration into institutional and regulatory frameworks, to demonstrate how elements of ethnicity, migratory status and a range of other variables interplay with wider economic and political contexts to shape diverse new migrant entrepreneurial activities. The article concludes by considering the challenges that this new phase of diverse migrant entrepreneurship presents to existing theoretical conceptualisations of ethnic minority business and the nature of appropriate policy responses.