|
Chapter 9: The Role of Community in Regeneration
Ken Sterrett
Executive Summary
Key Findings and Recommendations
Chapter 1: Introduction and Background to the Study
Chapter 2: Population Statistics: Belfast and Donegall Pass, 1971-2001
Chapter 3: Internal Migration and Community Dynamics
Chapter 4: Housing and the Environment
Chapter 5: Health and Wellbeing
Chapter 6: Children and Young People
Chapter 7: Education in Context
Chapter 8: Education and Training Issues in Donegall Pass
Appendix 1 Donegall Pass Profile
Appendix 2 Focus Group Topics/Questions
Appendix 3 Recruitment Form
CHAPTER NINE - THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY IN THE REGENERATION OF DONEGALL PASS
Key Points
- In Donegall Pass there is an underlying despondency that suggests that local people feel they can do little to halt or indeed reverse the decline in the community.
- However, research elsewhere suggests that community involvement in the planning and regeneration of a local area will be crucial to its potential success.
- There is a view, among some commentators, that working class Protestant communities have failed to develop their social capital and have often acquiesced in the face of change. While there is some evidence to challenge this view, there is, nevertheless, a widespread recognition that Protestant working class communities have been slower in developing community infrastructure and effective leadership.
- As elsewhere in the city, the paramilitaries are sometimes perceived by the community as being a more effective ‘police-force’ than the PSNI. However, there was also a certain discomfort with paramilitary policing and a desire among some for the situation to be normalised
- There is some acknowledgement that the ‘world is changing’ and that the local Protestant community needs to move on and embrace and indeed help shape the opportunities of change. However, the need to do this is juxtaposed with a perception that the pace of change is disconcerting, almost overwhelming, and, by implication, there should be an initial period of resistance.
- The perception among some residents that the Chinese population is growing and is significant in number is not evident in the census figures. The 2001 census figure shows that only 4.7% of the Donegall Pass population is from a Chinese ethnic group. However, the number of Chinese and other so-called ‘foreign’ businesses has grown over the last decade and all of this contributes to a very visible symbol of change.
- The community needs to be realistic about the services that can be provided within the local area. In the medium to long term Donegall Pass could begin to offer services for the wider neighbourhood, while availing of services beyond its boundaries. In this way the Pass can find its niche within a wider geography.
Introduction
Although the concept of community has many definitions, in the context of urban planning and regeneration it has been most commonly used to describe a geographical area of similar housing, often with a population of similar social class. Normally such areas had a range of local services including shops, schools and support facilities that helped to forge a degree of local autonomy. In the context of Belfast many of these communities were either predominately Protestant or Catholic.
Over the last few decades a number of social dynamics have affected and changed the traditional notion of what is called community. Firstly, new technology together with greater mobility has created greater opportunities for the development of what are known as communities of interest (Atkinson and Cope: 1995). Such communities are not necessarily defined geographically, but rather connect people around a common interest. Over recent years communities of interest have grown exponentially, particularly around themes relating to the environment, youth culture, gender, sexual orientation, leisure pursuits and such like. Interestingly, these new opportunities have often allowed people to shape their own identity rather than be shaped by the community they were born into (Lash, S. & Urry, J. 1994). This developing phenomenon has coincided with the growth of the middle classes, and has, as a consequence, reduced the importance of geographical community. On the other hand, there is also some evidence of a desire among the new middle class city dwellers to be part of a community that is place-based. This, it is argued, is a reaction to the turmoil of a contemporary world where globalisation, market forces and the internationalisation of politics has left people feeling powerless and bereft of identity (Harvey, D., 2000; Castells, M., 1989). Hence, and in relation to the latter, there has been a significant upsurge in groups seeking to protect local buildings and environments. Meaning and identity are invested in the inanimate world of townscape.
Secondly, across the UK and Ireland, the rationalisation of the provision of public services has contributed to a redefinition of what is meant by geographical community. The provision of schools, hospitals, clinics, leisure facilities, etc., has increasingly been organised around a much wider geography and is less sensitive to what were previously defined as local area needs. Two relatively recent initiatives have a particular relevance in this context: ‘Neighbourhood Renewal’ (Department of Social Development, 2003) and ‘Renewing Communities’ (David Hanson, Minister of State, 2006). The former is a national programme for the regeneration of the most deprived neighbourhoods. There are 13 in Belfast, and Donegall Pass is part of the Inner South neighbourhood along with ‘the Markets’ and ‘Lower Ormeau’. The Renewing Communities initiative is Government’s response to the report of the Taskforce on Protestant working class communities. Both initiatives raise a number of issues about what is meant by the notion of a sustainable community in the context of Belfast and indeed how this can be factored into the planning of an urban area.
Donegall Pass
The Donegall Pass community has seen significant changes over the last 30+ years. As noted in chapter 2 the population has declined, however, this has been accompanied by other changes brought about by structural changes in the local economy. The de-industrialisation of Northern Ireland and of Belfast, in particular, has had a significant impact on traditional Protestant working class communities. Traditional employment opportunities in local industries went into decline in the 1970s. A common lifestyle pattern that saw young people, following community and family tradition, taking up apprenticeships in Shipbuilding or the Gasworks or Ropeworks started to wane. This, together with the impact of the Troubles, weakened what appeared to be a relatively strong cohesive community with a sense of its own identity.
Census data showed that in 2001 the social composition of the Donegall Pass community was skewed towards social grades D and E1. Around 55% of all household ‘reference’ persons fell into these categories, while for Belfast the figure was 41% and for Northern Ireland, 35%. There was a similar disparity in relation to social grades AB and C12. In Donegall Pass just over 30% were in these categories, whereas in Belfast it was 46% and in Northern Ireland 47%.
In terms of the age profile of the community, Donegall Pass had less young people and more older people than in Belfast LGD or in Northern Ireland as a whole. Just under 18% of the community’s population were aged between 0-15, compared with Belfast at nearly 22% and with Northern Ireland at around 24%. At the other end of the age spectrum, nearly 25% of Donegall Pass’s population were pensionable age or over, while in Belfast the figure was just under 18% and in Northern Ireland 15.5%.
In 2001 approximately 78% of the population of Donegall Pass indicated they were Protestant, while 11% indicated they were Catholic. By comparison, Belfast’s population was 49% Protestant and 47% Catholic. In overall terms therefore, Donegall Pass is largely a Protestant working class area with a higher than average elderly population.
Leadership and Involvement
It is noted by a number of researchers that community involvement in the planning and regeneration of a local area will be crucial to its potential success. Current Government guidance on regeneration, for example, states that ‘Community Involvement enhances the effectiveness of regeneration programmes by encouraging better decision making; fostering more effective programme delivery and helping to ensure that the benefits of regeneration programmes are sustained over the long term.’ (Department for Communities and Local Government).
In Donegall Pass, however, there is an underlying despondency that suggests that local people feel they can do little to halt or indeed reverse the decline in the community. Market forces together with social trends and insensitive planning are regarded by many as being almost overwhelming. While a number of key individuals are involved in a range of community activities, there is very little evidence of a community desire for more widespread participation in regeneration activity.
|
I think there is a just a sense and I don’t think it is confined to Donegall Pass, I think it is in a lot of Protestant working class areas now that there is just this total apathy and disassociation and almost as if they’ve just gave up, what is the point, that is what I sense (Political Representative 1)
|
|
|
I think people have lost interest. I think people’s lost heart. It is only the same few people every time (female 26-59). There's a lot of un-motivated people around this area, most of the area is un-motivated (male 26-59). I definitely think it's a lazy area now for motivation (male 26-59). There are more schisms in this community, there are more cliques who vie with [each] other and there isn’t a general feeling of community (Education Worker).
|
|
This apathy and disillusionment is not peculiar to Donegall Pass or indeed to Belfast. A recent review of the literature on Area Based Initiatives in the UK showed that such areas were ‘particularly challenging locations for fostering greater levels of community involvement because of their frequently troubled histories, higher levels of distrust of local officials and ‘new’ policy initiatives, and typically low levels of activism by residents’ (Goodlad et. al., 2004, 934).
It is also widely acknowledged that community involvement needs to embrace those groups who are often marginalised within the community or whose voices are left unheard. Experience from elsewhere suggests the need for a proactive approach to community involvement; one that purposefully includes ethnic minority groups, women and young people. This view resonates with some of the key issues raised by participants:
|
‘If you were to ask me what is desperately needed in Donegall Pass it is a strategy with good community involvement, a really creative and innovative way to involve people and that should be the priority’ (Community Worker 1).
|
|
|
‘We know in the backs of our minds what good practice is and you get local people involved in your planning but that needs looked at more thoroughly as to how you get wider representation from the local community, not just wider representation, but also wider participation.’ (Community Worker 2).
|
|
There is a view, among some commentators, that working class Protestant communities have failed to develop their social capital and have often acquiesced in the face of change. While there is some evidence to challenge this view, there is nevertheless, a widespread recognition that Protestant working class communities have been slower in developing community infrastructure and effective leadership. Within the local Donegall Pass community there is some recognition of this:
|
‘In the old days it really was a Protestant working class thing to be conservative and not challenging. Somebody said to me we’re neither in you nor on you, but we were in power and it is a pride thing, it really is a pride thing. You don’t speak out against the government, you don’t go cap and hand, you don’t act… You don’t challenge you just accept quietly and that is ingrained, (although this attitude) it is starting to change.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
|
‘It is a working class Protestant thing about being under threat, being on the defensive and basically being continually in the press demonised… so all negative reporting’ (Political Representative 2).
|
|
There is also a view among some in the community that this innate conservatism, together with a politics that focused largely on defending an identity, has resulted in ongoing social and economic disadvantage. In other words, the perception is that while Catholic working class communities have made significant gains from ‘the
system’, and are more adept at using the system, Protestant working class communities have been left behind.
|
Now while we are sitting here doing this Dolly's Brae crap the Catholics are going to University, they are going and getting their A levels and their O levels … maybe I am very critical here, perhaps harshly, so you go into a lot [of] bars and they are singing Dolly's Brae, get a life (male 26-59).
|
|
Over the last 35 years Donegall Pass has had what might be called ‘paramilitary leadership’. Donegall Pass is of course UVF territory and over the last few decades, and in its own terms, it has operated as the ‘protector’ of the community and as an ‘aggressor’ in what it saw as a war against Republicanism. In the context of considering the sustainability and the leadership of the community, the UVF is a significant player. Although the organisation is undergoing a process of demilitarisation, local members retain a certain status within the community. This is evident in what appears to be an ongoing ‘policing role’ and in influencing the shape and composition of the community. In relation to the former this takes various forms, including ‘grounding’ young people for behaviour they regard as unacceptable.
|
‘Paramilitaries can just ground you’ … ‘Or else they throw paint over you.’ … ‘So when you do something they ground you, they go to your door and say you’re grounded then’. (males 14-17)
|
|
A significant number of young people now attend an Integrated School and consequently make friends with Catholics from other parts of the city. This has obviously disconcerted some within the local community and has triggered a response from the paramilitaries.
|
‘We've got mates like from the Falls and all, cause they are dead on but then….but then other people just take religion seriously’… ‘Like we'd be all right if we were messing about with them (Catholics) and all. We would mess about with people from the Falls but like other people would start and all like down here and would fight and all’. ‘… aye that's right, you’re warned about that. Remember I got warned about that because, this is true, I got warned by the paramilitaries I wasn't allowed to run about with Catholics in the town. X got warned about it too.’ (males 14-17)
|
|
As elsewhere in the city, the paramilitaries are often perceived by the community as being a more effective ‘police-force’ than the PSNI. A number of residents suggested that the relatively low levels of crime in the community were a consequence of paramilitary policing.
|
‘… and if the young ones get out of hand and they do do something you can go to certain people and you'll get it sorted out.’ … ‘I mean you can go to certain people if you want to, not that I would ever use paramilitaries for anything but if you really want to they're there.’ (60+)
|
|
There is also a certain discomfort with paramilitary policing and a desire among some in the community for the situation to be normalised.
|
‘I went to the Police about a year and a half ago for something that happened and they told me to go and see the boys. The Police did not want to know the situation they told me to go and see the boys, they would deal with it, that was my message.’… ‘Terrible.’ (60+)
|
|
The future role of the paramilitaries, or at least those who were paramilitaries, needs to be considered. There is some acknowledgement that the ‘world is changing’ and that the local Protestant community needs to move on and embrace and help shape the opportunities of change. However, the need to do this is juxtaposed with a perception that the pace of change is disconcerting, almost overwhelming, and, by implication, there should be an initial period of resistance.
|
‘ … we should develop the confidence you know, to defend your position whether it be political, social or not, but what we have done is we just drawn this little ladder mentality round us and said nobody shall enter here nobody shall intrude on our way. Could we not develop the confidence to step out into the great big world out there?’ (male 26-59).
|
|
|
‘I think this place has its own culture, and the history and culture is of a working class Protestant area you know, and all of a sudden (there’s) been traumatic changes in a short time over the 20 years and well I'm sure myself and the others aren't happy now to change and the time scale of change is happening too quick so it is.’ (male 26-59).
|
|
|
‘It's changing too quick. You've just come out of the conflict here and we'd need to sit back for about ten or fifteen years to get ourselves together and then ready for change, we're not like, places aren't ready for that sort of and it's big change at such a speed.’ (male 26-59).
|
|
What role, if any, therefore, could the former paramilitaries have in the community? Is there any potential to use their leadership for the positive benefit of the local community? There are a number of issues here. Firstly, in terms of community infrastructure, they are an organised group who are actively talking about the future and, more particularly, about the future of their area. And, in the context of an evident community malaise, this is significant. Secondly, can the ‘badge’ that formerly brought status and control be transformed into a badge of contribution and development? There are different views of this within the community.
|
‘… the paramilitaries actually take a great interest in the area. They are very often the people that people go to if they have problems or issues. They’re nearly first to know what evolving issues are say around the housing and all and a number of things so they do take a great interest in an area.’ (Community Worker 2).
|
|
On the other hand, there is also the suggestion that while the paramilitaries ‘are talking the talk’, they are ‘not walking the walk’.
|
‘There are those who want to embrace the change and move on and there are those who are fighting against it because their only form of status in the community was in this badge and they want to hold on to this as long as possible … People would say you need to have the support of the paramilitaries but no it doesn’t because the community is stronger than the paramilitaries. I think the community hasn’t grasped that fact yet, that the community is something more than a clique here and a clique there.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
Cohesion and threat
A number of participants and interviewees, particularly those from the older generation, reflected a rather nostalgic view of a more cohesive community that once existed in the Pass. In their memory, this was largely a homogeneous community of people who supported each other; a community of extended families that for the most part remained within the area. It was a safe place, a trusting place -
|
‘… years ago everybody's door was open and you just opened the door and walked in’, … ‘and not only that X, in them days the Milkman came round and put the bottle of milk on the doorstep and it was never ever touched’, … ‘if anybody needed help, everybody was there for to help you’. (60+)
|
|
Times have changed, however, and that remembered cohesion and trust appears to have diminished -
|
‘… now all their doors are shut because they don't want anybody to see what they have, not that I would be interested in what anybody had,’ … people has to close their doors now X because you know’ …. ’I know because you don't know who's running about.’ (60+)
|
|
|
‘In Donegall Pass there is no sense of responsibility, no sense of community, no sense of you can tell some one else’s child off and know that they will feel comfortable with that. I think that has been lost as well. Again, the sense of community has gone, people don’t know each other.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
The overall decline in the number of people living in Donegall Pass has been accompanied by the loss of local facilities, including local shops and services. For the most part, new and replacement commercial developments are attracted to the area because of its close proximity to the city centre and to the strategic road network. Of course the viability of these new enterprises is not dependent on the local population but, rather, a city-wide client base. The loss of other services such as the local school and doctor’s surgery have also had a profound effect on community cohesion.
|
‘I know other services that may be wouldn’t be classed as services that they’ve lost over the years, the Brownies, the BB, Girl Guides, the Every Girl’s rally. I know everybody I grew up with, you know I was in everyone of them … that was part of your socialisation in Donegall Pass.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
So while on the one hand traditional community spirit appears to have declined, on the other hand alternative perceptions of the community have emerged. A number of the contributors felt that in the view of outsiders Donegall Pass had a negative image. It was regarded as a loyalist ghetto; a racist enclave. One contributor referred to the area as ‘fortress Donegall Pass’.
|
‘… we sometimes joke that they are going to put a big wall round here and it is a joke and they are gonna throw bananas over every morning and it's a joke with a jag like you know.’ (male 26-59)
|
|
A major issue for people is the perceived increase in the Chinese population, and more recently, eastern European people moving into the area. Almost all the focus groups had a view on the Chinese population. Comments included:
|
‘… they're all gonna take over … they are chucking other people out of their houses and then Chinese are moving in and they are moving in about nine per house.’ (Young Males 14-17)
‘… I like my Chinese neighbours…’ ‘…my neighbours don't speak English, they're Chinese. But they're nice neighbours, now we've lived beside them 22 years, never once had a fall out with them.’ ‘ Very nice people.’ ‘ Very good neighbours’. (60+)
|
|
|
‘I personally believe that the Council will allow this to become China Town.’ (male 26-59)
|
|
The perception that the Chinese population is growing and is significant in number is not, however, evident in the census figures. The 2001 census figure shows that only 4.7% of the Donegall Pass population is from a Chinese ethnic group. However, the number of Chinese and other ‘foreign’ businesses has grown over the last decade and all of this contributes to a very visible symbol of change.
From the Chinese residents’ point of view, the issue locally is not necessarily just about the so-called growth in the Chinese community but is also about the influx of ‘outsiders’.
|
Any ‘outsider’ has trouble, not just Chinese, even Protestants from other areas. The people are welcoming after a certain time. (Chinese Resident)
|
|
The same point was made by a number of other contributors, for example:
|
‘If these were people moving in from Annadale or moving in from Sandy Row (you would get) the same reaction. Who do you think you are coming into our community? That is the way I define Donegall Pass. It has an aversion to strangers and it is not very welcoming.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
Interestingly too, this sense of exclusion is not necessarily confined to Protestant areas.
|
‘There is a general feeling that Donegall Pass is like other contested spaces. For example, like the Markets, (where) the bond is so strong they use that to exclude others like here.’ (Chinese Resident)
|
|
And while many in the longstanding white community bemoan the decline in community cohesion, Chinese residents perceive a different reality.
|
‘The bond between them is very strong. They use this bond/group to exclude.’ (Chinese Resident)
|
|
Another perceived threat to the sustainability of the community raised by participants was developer activity. Many recognised that, because of the location of the area, it was attractive to developers and investors. In the view of some participants, however, such activity worked against the interest of sustaining the traditional community. For example, new residential developments were private and, therefore, were beyond the means of local people. In addition, vacant land and buildings that could have been used to meet the needs of local people were being appropriated for commercial gain.
In overall terms, it might be fair to comment that there are a number of fractures within the Donegall Pass community. Some of these are evident and widely known, such as the sometimes difficult relationship between the so-called indigenous community and the Chinese population. Other fractures are not so evident but are, nevertheless, lurking beneath the surface of everyday life. As noted by one participant, there are social interfaces within the community which are every bit as challenging and problematic as the geographical interfaces. For example, there is a detectible antagonism between young people and the elderly that manifests itself in fear for the latter and frustration for the former. There is also a macho culture among many men within the community that sometimes manifests itself in domestic violence.
|
‘There is young women there to who the status within the community lies with those young men and so the young girls think attach themselves 15, 16 getting pregnant. Story over for the rest of your life. There is even an acceptance of domestic violence, which is horrendous, absolutely horrendous by young girls of 16, 17. Accepting the right of their partners to beat them up, beat them up in front of people, it was never there before.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
|
‘We need a women’s officer in here to work with those women and with women in this community who think it is still all right for their husband/partner to hit them and that’s a massive issue.’ (Community Worker 1)
|
|
Relationships with adjacent communities
As noted in the introduction, Donegall Pass is a tightly drawn territory sitting on the edge of the south side of the city centre. To the east and south sides of the Pass are the Catholic communities of the Markets and Lower Ormeau and to the west side, the Protestant community of Sandy Row.
During the period of the Troubles Donegall Pass, like many other ethno-religious communities became very insular and territorial. The boundaries of the territory developed into defensive borders and in many respects also became the limits within which the community felt safe and protected. Relationships between Donegall Pass and adjacent communities have varied over time. Although the Pass and Sandy Row are both Protestant communities, there has been a long established rivalry between the two areas. To some extent this rivalry reflects the ongoing antagonism between two paramilitary groups – the UVF and the UDA.
The relationship with Lower Ormeau and the Markets communities was particularly antagonistic during the worst period of the Troubles. Recently, however, the rapport with the Markets has improved while relations with the Lower Ormeau have remained strained.
|
‘I think the best way to describe the relationship with the Markets and the Lower Ormeau is suspiciously. They treat each other suspiciously and I think that’s got to do more over the years with the parade issue than anything else… I think in many respects it has been easier for people to have a relationship with the Markets than Lower Ormeau and I think again that is to do with the whole parades thing.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
The territorial mindset is obviously deeply ingrained among many in Donegall Pass. This was evident in many of the focus groups and in the observations of interviewees.
|
‘They (young people) don’t see scope beyond their border. I see them going up, they would walk up and down the Donegall Pass side of the Dublin Road and the Donegall Pass side of Botanic Avenue. It really is it that tightly defined because that is where their comfort zone is if you like.’ (Community Worker 2)
|
|
This mode of behaviour, has arguably, been reinforced by experience of the ‘outside’ and by changing demographics. On a surface analysis the Donegall Pass community is very well placed to take advantage of a range of services and facilities within the wider neighbourhood. For example, the greater Botanic and Shaftesbury areas offer a range of shops, cafes and services as well as park and leisure amenities. And, of course, Queen’s University is a near neighbour with a full range of facilities. However, for many in the Donegall Pass community all of this is alien territory. The areas south of the Pass are now perceived to be entirely Nationalist. Indeed the geography of safe and threatening territory has almost to be understood at a micro level. As one contributor noted, ‘many people don’t feel comfortable walking past the Spar in Botanic Avenue’. The expansion in student numbers at Queen’s over the last decade has been paralleled by a significant increase in the proportion of Catholic students attending the University. This in turn has seen the expansion of student accommodation across the Holylands and into Botanic and, of course, many of these students are Catholic. In terms of territory, these areas are no longer regarded as either neutral or safe.
|
‘It used to be the complete opposite with (Botanic Gardens). Botanic Avenue was up to the ‘Gardies’ and we’d run up to the Gardies all the time. I think with the Holylands becoming more and more nationalist and the Gaelic shirts and everything else’. (Political Representative 1)
|
|
|
‘… you find it hard to believe in this year 2006. There are people, they might go as far as Botanic Avenue and reverse back into the Pass again, that's incredible isn't it.’ (male 26-59)
|
|
|
‘See Ormeau Park or Botanic Gardens they (young people) can't go there now.’ (female 26-59)
|
|
Of course, the issue cannot simply be defined in terms of the relationship between Donegall Pass and its neighbours, but must also be understood in reverse. How do the surrounding communities relate to Donegall Pass?
|
‘This is the same argument I’ve had with the Belfast Festival at Queen’s and others here. You are right in the epicentre, yet these communities have no relationship with you whatsoever. How do you appeal to these communities? How do you get these communities to use you as a resource? And they don’t. There’s theatres, there’s cinemas, pubs, restaurants and that wee community feels they’re all for other people that come in.’ (Political Representative 1)
|
|
Conclusions and Recommendations
As noted before, the Donegall Pass community has undergone significant change over the last 30 years and not just in terms of numbers, but also in terms of cohesion, leadership and social composition. Across the UK many inner urban communities are undergoing similar transformations. And, in this maelstrom of change, many feel a loss of control and an erosion of identity. This is reinforced in the case of Belfast by the geography of territory and the way this plays out in relation to peoples social behaviour and pattern of living.
A critical question to ask at this stage is, is Donegall Pass a community? Certainly, it can be defined geographically by roads, buildings and edges, but is there a danger of confusing place with community? (Brent, J 2004, p.217). Are they one and the same thing? The focus groups and interviews have shown, quite clearly, that Donegall Pass does not have a cohesive community. As noted before, there are a number of fractures that are based on power relations and perceived threat. But this is not unusual, particularly in communities that have suffered from long term structural inequalities. However, as noted before, there are real potential benefits to be gained from community making processes. The developmental effects of building or rebuilding a community can bring better trust and understanding between disparate groups. Some authors, Brent for example, argue that cohesive, place-based communities with shared values and a common outlook don’t exist. Rather, communities will almost always be ‘moving, divided and incomplete’, but that can be an asset. Community campaigns that are motivated by a desire for change are more successful than those that are put in place or sponsored by officialdom.
Arguably, too, the future of the Donegall Pass community is partly within the control of the community itself. The economic forces currently shaping the area will continue to do so unless there are interventions that give some priority to the needs of the existing community. It must also be recognised that there are wider structural problems that require the serious attention of government policy. Indeed, some commentators have argued that previous attempts to address structural inequalities, at a local area level, have only succeeded in distracting attention from broader remedies (Cooke and Kothari, 2001; Brent, J. 2004). However, at another level, there is little doubt that the community, itself, needs to be re-energised around an agenda that empowers local people to develop a regeneration strategy for the area, but, as the focus groups have indicated, this will require a significant shift in attitude and interest.
The two recent initiatives, mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, represent attempts by Government to deal with a number of the issues raised by participants in this research. While both appear to offer some potential for progressing the regeneration agenda, they also raise some interesting questions. Firstly, how strategic are these initiatives? In other words, do they go beyond the short term, project based approach that has characterised so many past initiatives? And will they receive the sort of long term underpinning resources that a truly strategic course of action requires? Secondly, are they supported by a genuine interdepartmental approach that recognises the connectedness of the underlying issues? And ,thirdly, how do these initiatives fit within the already complicated architecture of local governance?
On the basis of the preceding review, the following recommendations are suggested:
- A number of research studies on community regeneration and community development stressed the importance of achieving wide representation. More particularly, they point to under-represented groups, such as the poorest working class people, women, ethnic-minority groups, disabled people, and young people (Goodlad et al, 2005). Arguably, too, a potentially underrepresented group in an area, such as Donegall Pass, is the middle class. It is important to bring the knowledge and skills of existing and future middle class residents to the community development process.
- A good starting point in community development is to build on existing and established structures. For example, those initiatives that are already generating local interest such as education and training should be developed and enlarged for other, wider regeneration purposes. The education and training facility has brought a diverse range of under-represented groups such as ethnic minorities, women and the unskilled into the Forum.
- Research elsewhere has found that resources are required to stimulate and sustain community involvement and that this is crucial to its success (Goodlad, R.; Burton, P.; Croft. J. 2005).
- Research elsewhere also suggests that seeing tangible results and outcomes is an important motivator for sustaining community involvement in regeneration projects. This can sometimes relate to small do-able projects, particularly in the early stages of development (see Goodlad, et al , p.932).
- A study on community involvement in an area-based initiative in Belfast found that the main benefits for participants were: growing self-esteem; exercise of citizenship; sense of ownership; and empowerment (Hughes et al, 1998).
- Although some participants suggested that people needed time to adjust to the post-conflict situation, there is a certain urgency about activating a broad community interest in the future of the area. The external forces of change will not sit in abeyance.
- Former paramilitaries could channel their energies into community development activity. Their evident commitment to the area and their willingness to participate could be enhanced and developed through tailored training programmes.
- The community needs to be realistic about the services that can be provided within the local area. In the medium to long term Donegall Pass could begin to offer services for the wider neighbourhood, while availing of services beyond its boundaries. In this way the Pass can find its niche within a wider geography.
- The area’s commercial attractiveness needs to be exploited for community advantage. There is significant potential for creating social economy projects which could be subsidised by rental income from commercial and other users (see also Chapter 4).
- The confidence of young people needs to be developed to allow them to participate and contribute to community activity. (see also Chapter 6)
- Although some of the problems facing the Donegall Pass community seem peculiar to the area, many are shared with other working class areas in Belfast (see Coulter, C. 1999). Part of the process of community development should involve developing alliances around shared causes.
References
Atkinson, R. and Cope, S. (1995) Community participation and the evaluation of urban regeneration strategies, paper delivered to the Ideas of Community Conference, University of Bristol, 13th & 14th September.
Brent, J., (2004) The desire for community: Illusion, confusion and paradox, Community Development Journal, Vol. 39, No. 3pp. 213-233
Castells, M., (1989) The Informational City, Blackwell, Oxford
Cooke, B., and Kothari, U., (2001) Participation: the New Tyranny? Zed Books, London
Coulter , C. (1999) The Absence of Class Politics in Northern Ireland. Capital and Class, Vol 69
Department for Communities and Local Government (2006), Communtiy Involvement, available at http://www.communities.gov.uk/, last accessed on the 24/06/08
Goodlad, R., Burton, P., and Croft, J. (2005), Effectiveness at what? The processes and impact of community involvement in area-based initiatives. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, volume 23, pp. 923-938
Harvey, D., (2000) Spaces of Hope. Edinburgh University Press
Hughes, J., and Carmichael, P. (1998) Building Partnerships in urban regeneration: a case study from Belfast. Community Development Journal Vol. 33 pp. 205-225.
Lash, S., and Urry, J. (1994) Economies of Signs and Spaces. Sage Publications
1 NI Census 2001, D – semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers; E – on State benefit, unemployed, lowest grade workers.
Return to Footnote Indicator
2 NI Census 2001, AB – Higher and Intermediate managerial/administrative/professional; C1 supervisory, clerical, junior managerial/administrative/professional.
Return to Footnote Indicator
|
