Community Change in Stoke - Keele University
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School of Sociology and Criminology

 

Keele Urban Research Network

Community Change in Stoke and North Staffordshire

Project Leader: Chris Phillipson

This project aims to provide a detailed assessment of social and neighbourhood change in an area (Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire) undergoing extensive urban regeneration. The research will examine the impact of industrial and economic change and the potential of regeneration for transforming community and neighbourhood life. More generally, using Stoke-on-Trent as an example, the research considers the extent to which regeneration can contribute to a revival in the fortunes of medium-sized cities and their surrounding sub-regions as they undergo a process of fundamental adjustment and change.

Attempts to understand some of the problems facing communities and, in particular, the processes by which neighbourhoods undergo change, have become increasingly urgent given a backdrop of re-structuring and recession – developments which, the evidence suggests, have hit certain kinds of cities and their sub-regions especially hard. North Staffordshire is itself undergoing a major transformation across a range of social, cultural and political institutions, with evidence that this has is having a major impact on groups such as women, older people, and workers in traditional industries.

The research will examine issues such as the impact of industrial change and economic recession on neighbourhood life; the effect of social change on key groups such as women, older people, and men in traditional sectors of employment; and the potential for new forms of social capital to emerge through regeneration and related developments. The research will use a range of methods to explore these questions and will work extensively with different groups within the community, including schools, neighbourhood forums, regeneration bodies, the local authorities and related groups.

The research will provide a major contribution to understanding the effectiveness of regeneration programmes; assist policy-makers in developing new ways of engaging and working with community groups; and contribute to an understanding of the changing nature of community and neighbourhood life, specifically within the context of medium-sized cities.

For further information, contact Chris at: c.r.phillipson@appsoc.keele.ac.uk