Neighbourhoods

Local action on noise

“Lack of communication between neighbours is blamed for the high level of complaints, many of which are triggered by other issues with neighbours.” This is one of the findings from the NSCA annual survey of local authority noise control specialists, which looks at levels of complaint about noise, trends in enforcement, and opinion on current and future policy. Today is Noise Action Day and there are quite a few initiatives around the UK.

Contrasts in ethnicity and neighbouring

For today’s contrast I offer an extract from one of the interviews conducted by my colleague Toby Gale for our study of neighbourliness in Manchester, and an article in the Daily Telegraph. Toby spoke to a small group of refugees and asylum seekers about their experience of neighbouring in England. “I have a lot of people I say ‘hello’ to, but I feel a stranger,” said one. The respondents seemed genuinely perplexed by what they saw as low levels of interaction and mutual support, and a lack of interest in other human beings.

Meanwhile here’s Daniel Johnson, associate editor of the Telegraph, writing today about the reclusiveness of the recently arrested Egyptian cleric Abu Hamza who happened to live a few doors away from him and his family: “Abu Hamza can be my neighbour or my enemy: he cannot expect to be both.”

"Britain’s neighbourhoods in danger of extinction"

The headline comes from the first line in a Lloyds TSB press release for some recent research they have commissioned. The main justification for what seems like tabloid hypetext might actually be the unstaggering finding that "16 per cent only ever see their neighbours in passing." One in five (20 per cent) despise those living near them to such an extent that they describe them as the "neighbours from hell." Some 42 per cent of respondents "deliberately keep their distance to avoid getting too involved in their neighbours’ affairs," although people we spoke to in Manchester call that "not living in each others' pockets." The Lloyds survey seems to hint at the loss of the judgement - nicely illustrated by Alice - on how a good neighbour never oversteps the line into noseyness but plays a subtle socially supportive role.

I've had my head in some of the statistics from our Manchester survey today, and can offer, by way of a taster, the following contrasts:

"If I have a crisis I could go to someone in my neighbourhood for help" - 64% agreed, 21.5% disagreed.
"When you're out in the neighbourhood, are you likely to see someone who you know very well?" - 52% said very likely or quite likely, with a further 25% saying 'sometimes.'

More where that came from, once we've sifted through it.

More on home zones

I did an article on home zones the other week for Property People magazine, asking why there aren’t more of them. Yes I know, they cost money – around £200,000-£300,000 per street I believe. I was just wondering whether there’s a study to be done, to quantify the costs of vandalism, poor health, loneliness and depression, low sociability among children, constrained play opportunities, low levels of community involvement etc etc, and how that would compare over time with the costs of investing in human-scale neighbourhoods. We automatically expect people who want home zones to have to make their case, but maybe it should be the other way around. People who want to roll their SUVs all over other people’s neighbourhoods should have to justify all the costs implied in doing so.

And a few days ago the Department for Transport released annual statistics on vehicle speeds but did not collect data from built-up areas that were subject to a speed limit lower than 30 mph. Which is a pity, and I shall suggest to them that they might do so in the future, since that would help the home zones movement.

Liveability

Whether or not you can live with the term ‘liveability,’ there’s a lot of it about. Here’s a new publication from IDeA, containing “52 innovative case studies that illustrate how local authorities and their partners are improving the quality of our everyday lives.” The cost is £15.00. There are some sample case studies including
‘Bringing art to the street’ (London Borough of Southwark); and ‘Designing out crime and vandalism’ (Kirklees Metropolitan Council).

Information about the ODPM Liveability Fund (England) is here.

Social Capital, Civil Renewal and Ethnic Diversity - conference

Runnymede Conference on 'Social Capital, Civil Renewal and Ethnic Diversity' - Thursday 24 June 2004
Speakers include: Avila Kilmurray, Ben Fine, Trevor Phillips, John Denham MP and David Halpern.
Oxford House, Bethnal Green, London E2

Progress on planning aid in England

Communities get free expertise to shape their surroundings through Planning Aid - RTPI press release, 14 May.

“Full time community planners in each region to help local communities build their own capacity and ability to engage with the planning process.”

Loneliness and mental distress

The interviews we have been conducting for our review of neighbourliness in Manchester have shown how people see their relations with neighbours in terms of mental health. Mind have just published a report based on two surveys, which draws attention to the disturbing extent of isolation and loneliness. Some 84 per cent of people with mental health problems report that they feel isolated.

"The most isolated group of people appeared to be young people (92 per cent). People in rural areas also did badly, with 90 per cent feeling isolated. Almost 90 per cent of people from Black and minority ethnic communities also reported feeling isolated, with 61 per cent of this group saying that their isolation was exacerbated by other forms of discrimination."
"Beyond social change, overcoming isolation came down to very simple solutions for many people. Human contact, made by developing relationships, social activities, mental health organisations and access to the telephone and internet all helped, or would help if available, according to Mind’s survey."

Antisocial behaviour - teleconferences

The Quest Trust have a typically straightforward and purposeful report on one of their recent teleconferences on antisocial behaviour. They also announce two further teleconferences, as follows:

Reclaim the streets: tackle street crime, 14 June 6.30 – 7.30pm
The national programme to tackle anti-social behaviour, 7 July 2-3pm

Quest teleconferences are a great way of sharing local level experience and getting a wider perspective on issues - an hour or so of invariably stimulating telephone discussion chaired and led by subject experts. Contact Sarah on 01225 466222.

Housing estate vignette

Over on the Neighbours from Hell site there’s a vignette from Gloucestershire summing up a typical accumulation of neighbourhood antisocial behaviour problems including noise, dogs, unsupervised children, and complaints of lack of response from authorities.

A housing association rep said: “"We tried to set up a residents' association, but only three or four tenants came to the meeting."
I wonder if a little community development might just help.

What would you do with this space?

CABE Space have published their guide to involving young people in the design and care of urban spaces. Lots of good pics and quotes.

Keep them out

Last week Channel 4 broadcast a Dispatches programme called ‘Keep them out,’ about a successful local campaign against a government scheme to develop a large centre for asylum seekers nearby. There seemed to be a relentless stream of unsubstantiated remarks about the character of people from other countries (“but we’re not racist”) to leave one wondering whether any progress at all has been made over the last 20 years or so. For those who have stood up and fought crusades against racism, and promoted awareness in this field, it must have made very depressing viewing. There are a few quotes on the Channel 4 mini-site as a taster.

It was striking how easy it felt to stereotype the campaigners themselves, just as they were emphatically, and apparently unashamedly, stereotyping asylum seekers. We might say that here was a white, middle class community of a certain age and certain political persuasion, who were taking very calculated action to protect their homogeneity.

What we saw were people who were ruthlessly intent on denying sanctuary to others in need, in part expressly because the value of their houses would go down. It was sad to witness the celebrations – the relief that house prices were protected - when the government’s change of plan was announced.

I have two reflections at this time. First, it was disturbing how many wild generalisations were made as if they were substantiated fact, and how such remarks contributed to the momentum of cold fear of the Other. Members of the campaign group were shown clearly intimidating those who held contrary views. It seemed to be genuinely believed that asylum seekers are rapists intent on coming to this country to devastate the local girls. This seems to me to be an educational issue, and one can but hope that the citizenship agenda finds an established place in schools long term, so that more tolerant and receptive minds develop.

Secondly, the whole issue highlights the urgency of fully understanding the need for equilibrium between homogeneity and heterogeneity, between cohesion and diversity. On the Daedalus Action Group website you can find references to the exceptional ‘community spirit’ that brought the campaign success – levels of social capital which in other circumstances we might applaud. But the stifling lack of tolerance seems to be linked to a determined insularity and lack of diversity. One can well imagine that those who challenged 'the tyranny of the majority' would readily leave as soon as they could.

All of which reminds me of a little puzzle I once thought up, which goes like this. Which famous twentieth century political leader was known to celebrate rural communities, was a devotee of community architecture, loved getting gatherings of ordinary people together and talking to them, and who, when he came to power, invested heavily in the public realm?

If someone came to us today with such credentials, might we find ourselves saying, “Great stuff, we’re right with you on that, Adolf...”? Which illustrates, I think, the importance of declaring values. Lack of tolerance for the Other can easily be disguised by unexamined rhetoric and half-articulated fears. Being clear about values helps us understand what the rhetoric really means. This blog endorses the community development values of social justice, equality, participation, learning and co-operation.

There are stacks of comments about the programme on the Channel4 forum here.

Towards the taxi-bus hybrid

This is an interesting development with implications for people’s mobility beyond their neighbourhoods. Following trials in Cardiff, the South West Regional Development Agency is looking to run a full-scale trial of an electric-powered, driverless taxi system.
Swindon and Weston Super Mare have so far been identified for the potential pilot scheme. Both towns have key regeneration projects and have particular transport problems.
ULTra (Urban Light Transport) is an automatically-controlled personal taxi system which runs on a specially-dedicated network. Passengers can request a taxi at a series of points across the city, on a turn-up and go basis. Like taxis, but unlike buses, passengers share a cab with family, friends or colleagues, rather than strangers.

Obviously it depends to a large extent on the flexibility of the network in terms of routes. Could it be that in the future, the location and perceived value of neighbourhoods will reflect this in the way that, for instance, the development of the Metropolitan Railway line affected west London suburbs?

And presumably if you’re not there when it turns up, a loud horn toots automatically.

Clean and safe agenda in the city

There's a recent article on the Home Office Active Communities site about Birmingham City Council's approach to civil renewal.

“Every city is different, but I think that the clean and safe agenda is a good place to start... You start with removing abandoned fridges, vehicles or graffiti and then that gives the community confidence that you will start to tackle the more serious manifestations of anti-social behaviour.”

Network logic

This one looks like being a lasting resource. There's no point in me waiting until I've read it before posting, so here you are -
Network Logic: who governs in an interconnected world? recently published by Demos. "In this collection of essays, Demos seeks ... to distil the most important lessons from the study of networks and address some of the critical questions that our 'network society' presents: from the distribution of power and inequality to the future of civic participation and the impact of new technologies."
Includes chapters by Capra, Castells, Rheingold, to name but three. Robert Sampson, the doyen of neighbourhood studies, has a fascinating chapter on 'Networks and neighbourhoods' in which he expounds on the notion of collective efficacy... Preceded by a chapter from our very own Alison Gilchrist, doyenne of community networking.

Rocket growing science

I’ve been puzzling over the BBC’s Neighbourhood Gardening initiative. (Thanks to Will Davies who has a few words about it from a different perspective over on iWire).

“Qualified Neighbourhood Gardeners will pass on their knowledge about gardening to others, while running and actively shaping innovative projects. The principle aim of BBC Neighbourhood Gardener is to cultivate a nation of successful gardeners. It taps into people's existing passions and has horticultural education at its heart.”

Two things about it seem a little odd, and I’m wondering if they’re connected. First, I could find no mention of allotments, those predominantly working class community carpet-breeding grounds. Well, maybe they’re just too cliquey – although elsewhere on the beeb’s gardening pages we’re told that “Allotments are now a world away from the flat cap and whippet image that they have suffered from in the past.” But secondly, there seems to be a somewhat (excuse me) middle class emphasis on qualifications. And not just horticultural qualifications. You have to go to Page 2 of the FAQs to find out that in addition to a gardening qualification you need a Certificate in Volunteering from ASDAN.

Too much science? As I’ve been trying to explain to those whose fingers are greener than mine, there’s an art to growing rocket.

Global - local vignette

Here's a little story of the global and the local that reached me some time ago from a friend of my mother’s. It concerns an elderly couple, the wife in a wheelchair, who keep going on the shopping front without a suitable corner shop, by using a two-fold strategy - the old man takes a bus from home to the supermarket and picks up the few small things that he can manage to carry back. Then every couple of weeks they phone their daughter who lives in Stockholm but works in New York, and she places an online order, which Tesco deliver to their home.

Wireless Space

Interest in the relation of wireless mobile technologies to the local environment continues to build, if that's the phrase I'm after. This workshop looks interesting -

"Wireless Space is a workshop on ‘locative media’ technology. The workshop aims to explore the use of emerging technologies in architecture. Participants will explore: new content development for mobile, wireless and interactive technologies and new ways to engage with the dynamics of architecture, and natural environment. The results of the workshop will be discussed on Saturday 19th June."

University of Huddersfield, 18-19 June. All part of Architecture Week.

Insecurity in neighbourhoods

The University of Bristol event on ‘Researching the neighbourhood’ was worth putting up with the city’s hefty taxi rates and the clogged traffic. One of the recurring themes that got me thinking was the problem of insecurity. David Thorns, for example, pictured here, from University of Canterbury at Christchurch New Zealand, told how in the neighbourhoods he’s been studying there seems to have been ‘a reification of the desire to protect.’ He notes an apparent increase in the number of dogs and home protection alarm systems. Insecurity was raised by Richard Webber of UCL in comments on correlations between different variables of deprivation – for instance, that being on income support was closely correlated in neighbourhoods with fear of being mugged.

I was also heartened to hear David Thorns mention two areas of information about neighbourhoods that I’ve been pondering lately – the real estate industry (David was considering how estate agents construct neighbourhood through the language that they use) and lifestyle media (specifically, lifestyle magazines, although my interest is in the apparent explosion of property exchange and makeover television programmes).

Children, citizenship and negotiation skills

Here’s a quick welcome for a recent evaluation of children and citizenship, by Jean Hine, published by the Home Office Research Development & Statistics Dirctorate. The research looked at children’s understanding of three aspects of citizenship: social and moral responsibility, community involvement, and political literacy. It was linked to a pilot project working with ‘children and families in areas of high deprivation and high crime.’

Among some helpful observations and telling quotes, the author draws attention to the need for children to learn negotiation skills. This is related to the sense that, surprise surprise, they ‘feel they have little control in their lives and that their options are narrow.’ It is closely linked to a point I have rattled on about in the past, the habit of non-participation – the fact that so many people go through family life, school life, and early workplace experience without being consulted or being expected to participate in many of the decision-making processes that affect them.

Schools have an important part to play, because as Jean Hine points out, for most children they are the first formal organisations to which they belong. Perhaps we should also be calling for teachers and school managers to learn how to negotiate with children, and accept that it is not always easy. And school staff might reasonably remind us that most children spend far less time with them than among their families and friends, so households merit some attention here.

When I discussed children’s negotiation skills with someone from the National Family and Parenting Institute a few weeks ago she was clear that children are generally far more adept at negotiation than in the past, and that rings true to me. So if both views are right, what are we saying? That young people have improved negotiation skills but they need to be even better? Do we perhaps need to articulate a meaning of negotiation that distinguishes civil respect for other points of view, from techniques for getting our own way?

The seven attributes of safer places

Last week saw the publication of Safer places: the planning system and crime prevention by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Office. As I'm a few tomes behind with my reading of government documents, here's just a taster from a quick scan...
The seven attributes of safer places
Access and movement: places with well-defined routes, spaces and entrances that provide for convenient movement without compromising security
Structure: places that are structured so that different uses do not cause conflict
Surveillance: places where all publicly accessible spaces are overlooked
Ownership: places that promote a sense of ownership, respect, territorial responsibility and community
Physical protection: places that include necessary, well-designed security features
Activity: places where the level of human activity is appropriate to the location and creates a reduced risk of crime and a sense of safety at all times
Management and maintenance: places that are designed with management and maintenance in mind, to discourage crime in the present and the future.

Communicating acceptable behaviours

As so often, two things come together - in this case two texts - and seem to chime a note. I've been reading Elijah Anderson's book Code of the street, which tries to understand how people drift or shift from 'decent' to 'street' life and behaviours. And I've just been glancing through a renewal.net case study about 'ABC, the Acceptable Behaviour Campaign'...

The two texts together illustrate the importance and value of early intervention in a context where behavioural norms that incorporate consideration and tolerance may have been stifled, perhaps because of a weaker sense of family and neighbourhood cohesion.

Operation ABC is a partnership approach to antisocial behaviour of young people, established in 2001 in Redcar and Cleveland in the north east of England. It is described as being 'intelligence-led.' It seems to be about managing the clear communication, to the individual, of society's perception of what is and what is not acceptable - a process that, judging from Anderson's book, appears to have been critically missing from policy in Philadelphia. The ABC project stresses information exchange and claims considerable success.

"The experience with the Neighbourhood Task Group has shown that it can impact on the large numbers of complaints received regarding under age drinking and the gangs of youths on street corners and shopping parades but only if the resources are made available and properly directed."