Introduction

The persistence of poverty, social inequality and social exclusion spatially concentrated in certain localities and neighbourhoods is a longstanding and prominent feature of urban landscapes. Such spatially concentrated deprivation is largely tolerated and ignored on a day-to- day basis, yet comes into political focus during periods of social unrest, whether in the form of riots, gangland activity, terrorism or more everyday antisocial behaviour. These events revive, albeit often only temporarily, well-rehearsed debates concerning the dangers of concentrated deprivation in undermining social and community cohesion and creating political instability, as well as the moral issues of permitting the existence of severe social inequalities and the costs of spatial inequalities to wider economic performance.

The shift towards a liberalised global economy has been characterised by not only the persistence but also the entrenchment of concentrated urban deprivation within the advanced Western economies. The contemporary presence of spatially focused poverty is not just an issue for cities and regions experiencing economic decline and readjustment, but also for those that are economically competitive and prosperous. In recent years London, Paris and Los Angeles – cities that are commonly seen as central hubs of the global economy – have all had their own traumatic experiences of high-profile social unrest within deprived inner or outer urban neighbourhoods.

It is against this background that policy makers have been formulating and implementing an array of policy interventions that seek to address the ‘problem’ of these so-called disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In Britain, the link between social exclusion, community cohesion and spatially concentrated deprivation has given rise to a plethora of policy initiatives. Since 1997, the New Labour governments have placed area-based initiatives (ABIs), such as the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal and the New Deal for Communities (NDC), at the centre of their social exclusion agenda. Yet despite considerable investment in policy development and experimentation there is no sign that localised deprivation is set to disappear. Poor areas persist and new areas of deprivation emerge. Even when areas do undergo regeneration or gentrification, the evidence demonstrates that the majority of local residents of such areas fail to benefit.

The problems of deprived areas are multifaceted, with residents commonly experiencing higher levels of crime, poorer health, environmental degradation and poorer housing than those in less deprived areas.