Patterns and trends in ethnic residential segregation in England, 1991-2001: a quantitative and qualitative investigation

Abstract

This thesis brings together the themes of ethnicity, inequalities, locality and community interactions. Through an exploration of the processes of residential segregation it demonstrates the complexity of narratives in English local authorities. The research addresses the policy concerns of community cohesion and regeneration and the role of neighbourhood within these. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, it offers a thematic analysis of the factors affecting residential segregation. A quantitative analysis of the factors leading to variation in the residential arrangements of ethnic groups is conducted at the local authority level using multivariate techniques. The is followed by a qualitative exploration of these processes that reveals the complexity of the relationships between housing patterns, deprivation, ethnicity, culture and community relations. This is set in a critical realist discourse and in the context of a critique of New Labour discourse on community cohesion.