皇家华人

New project aims to show that urban diversity is an asset in European cities.

European cities today are more diverse than ever before. The principle aim of DIVERCITIES, which is being financed by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, is to show that urban diversity is an asset.

A European research team, headed by the Utrecht University, is conducting a comparative study in 13 European cities. In the UK, the project is being led by Mike Raco, Professor of Urban Governance and Development, and Dr Claire Colomb, Reader in Planning and Urban Sociology at The Bartlett School of Planning.

They chose as their case study the London Borough of Haringey. Almost two-thirds of its population of 254,000, and 70% of its young people, are from ethnic minorities, with over 100 languages spoken in the borough.

Through a series of interviews with local residents, the study found how 鈥渃ommon-place鈥� hyper-diversity is to most Londoners, with most interviewees seeing diversity as improving the quality of urban life and the neighbourhoods in which they lived. The study also uncovered evidence of deepening social networks among many different groups, a thriving civil society of associations and support groups, and strong preferences for mixed communities.

These findings will be fed into the DIVERCITIES project鈥檚 final conference in Rotterdam in 2017, to which three influential Haringey residents will be invited. Dr Tatiana Moreira de Souza, Research Assistant at the School of Planning, says: 鈥淭he residents will not only be able to hear about what other groups are doing in other cities but will also be able to discuss issues that are pertinent to London.鈥�