Map of the Week - Civic pride
The government has just published guidance [624Kb PDF] on "building a local sense of belonging" - a toolkit for nurturing neighbourliness.
According to Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, civic pride is powerful stuff. "People who feel that they belong to their local area will get involved with local schemes and initiatives, will help their neighbours, will challenge inappropriate behaviour, will welcome newcomers and help them settle. They will pull together in a crisis and join together in a celebration. All this helps to build cohesive, empowered and active communities."
Her department's advice on this subject includes a number of examples of good practice including one which I have selected as my Map of the Week.
whatwasHere is an interactive map of Liverpool onto which residents are encouraged to contribute personal snippets about the city's history. So there's a story about an unexploded bomb, a giant cod and the day the Mersey froze.
According to government research, three quarters of people strongly feel they belong to their area, but that still leaves one in four of us without that attachment. As Hazel Blears says: "[w]hile social networking sites can connect us with friends all across the world, we may not know our neighbours well enough to have a cup of tea with them".
Initiatives like the Liverpool map are designed to foster a sense of shared history and geography. "Building a local sense of belonging needs to focus on the things we have in common and so be inclusive, rather than place of birth or ethnicity, which are exclusive," the department suggests.
Its guidance warns that communities with low levels of belonging can produce "dynamics of acute social antagonism (racist attacks, harassment, bullying) against newcomers". The problems, the evidence suggests, are most acute in neighbourhoods where local people feel they represent the predominant "declining" majority.
In such localities, "minimalist or different notions of neighbourliness and civility" are interpreted as lack of respect or hostility. Newcomers are blamed for structural shortages in social provision - housing, jobs, welfare and education.
This sort of social fracturing is a consequence of segregation - people tend to live with people who are like themselves in terms of ethnicity, wealth or age. The excellent Tomorrow Project puts it like this:
"Younger people have been gathering in enclaves distinct from older people. Migrants have been settling with others from the same country. Richer people have been moving away from poorer people. Local communities have become more fragmented. New housing estates tend to attract people with similar lifestyles, for example. Not infrequently, these lifestyles differ from others nearby, fracturing the locality. In many areas, 'local' has dissolved into a pastiche of housing estates, ethnic groups, lifestyle communities and groupings of different ages. Place remains important, but instead of identifying with the village, the town or the suburb, residents may identify more strongly with their estate, street or neighbourhood."
The government guidance puts the phenomenon a different way:
"Individuals often relate to the physical place as much as to people in that place. In traditional neighbourhoods, individuals recognised many of the residents, knew a number
of them well and counted some as friends. Today, many 'suburbanites' scarcely see their neighbours. Yet familiar landmarks - the pub, the church, a well-travelled street, the supermarket, the cinema - all provide a sense of belonging."
But I am not sure that "familiarity" is the same as "belonging". Research in Manchester found that "locals", born and bred in an area often felt that they had been left behind, or were inferior because they could not choose to move, or that the locality had been transformed (perhaps by new arrivals) so that it no longer felt like home.
PS: If we are all moving around more and flocking together with people like ourselves, what do we make of this map? It shows the distribution of surnames, comparing 1881 with 1998. The Tuckers, Walkers and Fullers were names of families associated with washing sheep fleeces in the Industrial Revolution. Broadly, it appears that people have not been settling down miles away from where they were born, despite increased mobility.
Perhaps the answer is that people stay in the same town or area, but choose to live in a neighbourhood that reflects their class, wealth, age and culture.
I'm 
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In Forest Hill (London SE23) we have a growing sense of community thanks to a local online discussion forum (www.se23.com).
The forum allows us to share information, discuss local topics and even disagree on things, without the worry of organising and attending lots of meetings.
However, once the links are established, we can then move on to more traditional civic activities. In fact, a local Civic Society, the Forest Hill Society, was formed precisely in this way, as a direct result of discussions online.
One of the most popular activites of these sites, and the best way to create a sense of local civic pride, is to better understand the unique local history. We are very lucky to have found a local historian whose talks are incredibly well attended.
A shared knowledge of the local history is a great glue for local community despite any differences between today's residents.
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What is the point of taking part in"local initiatives" when in the very next breath those of a less socialble orientation will complain of a postcode lottery. You can't have it both ways, either you support local endeavour, in which case you implicitly support the possibility of diverse standards, or you support uniformity of provision and of health/wealth/etc outcomes. Which is it to be Ms Blears?
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Have the goverment considered the thought that 1 in 4 of us don't want to be part of the local community?
One of the advantages of internet style remote comunities is that you can find ones where you have something in common - all i have in common with my neighbours is i live next to them - not a great talking point.
Not to say that those that want comunites cannot have them naturally - but could we stop it with the assumtion we must all be part of them?
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I would argue that social antagonism can also arise where levels of belonging are too high. Even in the 19th century, there was a cartoon in Punch showing two blokes looking at third man and saying "Who's he?" "Dunno - heave half a brick at him". There's also some evidence that communities which are too tightly-knit can generate a lack of ambition or a benefits culture.
Speaking personally, I agree with post 4. I want to be part of a "community" which is based on shared interest, rather than just geography. This could be built on a circle of friends, people who go to a particular pub (not necessarily the nearest one), members of a club or society or contributors to a bulletin board. I'm a member of networks of all these types, and I'm happier with that rather than dealing with people who's only link to me is occupying a neighbouring house or the same road.
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It's interesting that Hazel Blears uses the word "empowered". I wonder what she means by this.
Is she thinking of communities that have the power to defy the government and, for example, block infill house building or the creation of remand centres? Is she thinking of communities that have the power to implement measures that the government hates, such as creating new grammar schools?
Or is she just thinking of communities that are "empowered" in the vacuous sense that they are allowed to agree with Labour party policy?
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When places like Cornwall are subject to massive inward migration, hanging on to our sense of community is very hard. The government's house-building programme in some areas will be 80% reserved for incomers, and enough houses for several towns the size of Penzance are planned. Unless the government allows local people a far greater say in the development of their own areas, AND reserves a large proportion of new houses for local use, our sense of a Cornish community will be steadily eroded until we are nothing more than another part of a homogeneous island.
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Have a look at the eastdulwichforum.co.uk for a great example of community chat.
Although East Dulwich only boasts around 5,000 residents with vaguely defined borders, the forum still boasts thousands of local readers and contributors and regularly hosts debates about local issues and opportunities.
It's a real demonstration of how to call in vast numbers of local residents to contribute to community decisions and involve them in East Dulwich debate and democratic solutions.
It's succesful off the page too - hosting incredibly popular regular social get-togethers and drawing interest in public meetings.
By hosting award votes ceremonies for local businesses it even helps to support local commercial activity and boost best practice.
It's a case study in civic pride.
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I'm a non-Londoner who has moved around north London for 10+ years now and for most of the streets I've lived on I have got to know my neighbours, even though we have little or nothing in common. Some of them keep themselves to themselves, some I know only to say hello to and others will go out of their way to help each other.
I think that it's healthy for individuals and society to mix - especially with people who ave very little common ground with each other.
Its all very very to have a social life with on-line communities who share your tastes and opinions but its very hard to borrow a ladder or cup of sugar or the use of a microwave from such people.
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All very good and very true of course. But what are they actually doing.. Oh yes publishing guidence.
This manual should sit nicely along side the national motto, Union Jacks flying over council buildings and a British Day.
When is British day by the way?
Dipso, Fatso, Bingo, Asbo, Tesco
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It is all very well wanting to join the local community but I do not wish to attend Church or Gurdwara, I do not have children of school age and I am not part of any minority group that meets in the centre down my road. So how I am meant to be part of the community?
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I love my home city Winchester and have published several poems about it and nearby Southampton, under my pen-name Totton Linnet [Totton is just a stone's throw from the New Forest] which is my birth home. Britain still is a beautiful country to live in.
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I can remember growing up in post-war London and experiencing the intense sense of solidarity of the ordinary people. However, by the mid-Fifties the world was moving on and the sense of neighbourhood diminished.
The wealthier we have become as a society the more opportunities there are for social climbing. Some might call this social mobility but when class attitudes come into play it often turns to comedy and tragedy.
Until we return to a sense of community solidarity and mutually held values derived from common experiences there will be no lasting sense of neighbourhood.
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I can no longer call this country mine. It belongs to the foriegn migrant workers that have flocked here at Labours behest to rape our of system of benefits and to flout our laws and rules.
My own town is now completely foriegn to me. English is not even the 3rd language here.
My own street has become a dumping ground for migrant workers who are conned by their own countrymen into renting substandard properties at exhorbidant sums.
I look forward to death earlier rather than later. Even our health system treats me as a second class citizen.
The scum of europe now walk where we used to call our green and pleasant land. No more. It belongs to non-citizens who have no pride of belonging only of taking.
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#7 No need to worry about Kernow becoming another homogenised part of the UK. Us Devonians will still remind you that you are different :-D
#13 Yes, the community spirit in the 50s after we stopped killing each other in the late 40s was excellent...let's have WWIII and after we can have a golden age of community spirit!
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Notice how none of these things require government funding?
In my town of 7,000 people we have no community centre, no youth centre, no arts centre, no indoor sports facilities and one football pitch for 14 teams.
Pretty hard to build a sense of community here, Mrs Blears.
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The town of Crawley, where I live, used to have a Town Carnival, Proms Night in a local park as well as many smaller community events. In recent years these have all been cancelled due to lack of support from the 'community'.
There is no Civic Pride in Crawley anymore but there has been a massive influx of migrant workers and asylum seekers. (Crawley gets more than it's fair share due to the proximity of Gatwick). Can the Government not see the correlation?
This is not a xenophobic rant, indeed why should any of these people feel the need to join the community when they create their own little enclaves and go out of their way not to mix.
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My God Mark, this is rich coming from a government that has been hell-bent on destroying everything that has bound us together at the local and national levels. Another load of tosh from a bunch of political light-weights soon to be dumped into the recycle bin (then hopefully securely erased).
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Huguenot1970:
Come on pal. Haven't you more important things to do than spreading New Labour propaganda on here? Oh I forgot this is how you lot from no 10 operate these days isn't it?
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Looking back I think that I used to feel quite connected with my local community and the wider nation.
But I think that has all gone now - neither the community nor the nation that I remember exists any more.
Pale, male, middle class and middle age: no part of this state 'embraces' me. Most of it has an 'equality plan' which focusses on reducing the proportion of people in my demographic. At work they have a scheme to promote more 'under-represented minority groups' and the local swimming bath it's women only morning.
Unsurprisingly I don't feel much loyalty in return. Let them ask the people they value to participate.
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Great map with the second names by the way, that's really striking and so interesting.
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Blears is a twonk. Not a clue about how the real world operates, so let's all just ignore her.
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Interesting blog Mark.
Christian country - Love thy Neighbour - who is my neighbour?!?.
Some of the comments here are very true and yet very sad at the same time, people have gone on about only finding interests in communitys that exist only online, because they feel their community does not share with them the things they require to live a full life, yet others go on to say how the communities they live in have benifited from the community itself taking the leap into cyberspace we have such a site "wikiwirral"
I like to think that i live in both the real community of life and the cyber one for those things just out of my field of knowlage/interest.
#4 "Not to say that those that want comunites cannot have them naturally - but could we stop it with the assumtion we must all be part of them?"
Like it or not we are all part of a community you can't step outside it, even if one does not know the people around them, or feel that they have nothing in common directly. Using the same local shop is a part of belonging to a community even if its just to say "packet of gum and the paper please" when you go in. It isnt always a social gathering or night out.
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The remarks contributed so far give me some cause for hope and some for sadness.
Despite not being a great mixer I have discovered over the course of half a century, living in a number of different places, both in the UK and overseas, that the only way to become part of a community is to try to be pleasant and pass the time of day with those around me.
Having just moved into a new home, I plan to knock on the neighbours' doors and introduce myself. We may not have anything in common except for living in close proximity and I don't expect us to live in each other's pockets but I will gladly lend a hand if any of them need help from time to time and, although I don't expect it, they may help me in return on occasions, or at least baulk at doing me harm.
I try to remember to thank those who do me a service, whether it be the bus driver, the Ethiopian lady who cleans our offices, the removal men who recently helped us to move into our new home, or the shop assistant who serves me, as well as colleagues and neighbours.
I am not religious. It just helps to oil the wheels, costs very little, and makes me and (I hope) others a little happier.
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#20
I agree with you. The country that I think I once loved and might perhaps have been prepared to die for has gone for ever.
I feel part of one or two communities (we all run in more than one pack don't we?) but none are geographically based. What is so sad is that it all seems to have been either sold, or just ignored and left to rot. I have friends, but certainly don't feel at all valued by my country, county or town.
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Of course the Government would like to reinforce a sense of community: it makes it harder to be 'different' from the main stream, and social control easier.
It must be highly inconvenient that we can make friends, keep up with relatives and exchange information with people right across the globe, let alone travel so easily and cheaply. It weakens the 'nation state' (even though the UK is not actually a nation state at all), thus their power.
So much easier when we all have to conform to the norms set by the local 'community' just to protect jobs, social lives and generally get on in life.
Mobility gives power to the individual, enables us to commuicate with and even live near those we have most in common with cuturally, professionally, and in terms of back ground. How inconvenient for Hazel Blears.
CarrotsneedaQUANGO2 @ 10
The sight of the Union flag flying over public buildings is, as far as I am concerned, a symbol of oppression of the English by the (Dis)United Kingdom state. It does not fly over public buildings in Scotland or N Ireland, because they know how divisive that would be in those countries - but the English? They are a pushover, and under no circumstances to be allowed to develop their own sense of national identity.
What else would you expect, though, from a Prime Minister elected by Scots in Scotland to make lawas that (in many cases) only apply in England?
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This country MS Blears .. is not what it once was ie my home , its now thanks to you awash with folk from lord knows where , try chatting to someone on the bus .. most cant even speak english , you live in a special area no doubt where all your neighbours are dare i say well off , have good education and speak great english . try living in the poor parts of the country then tell us how to live our lives ..best thing for our country is when this government is in opposition for ever .
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According to Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, civic pride is powerful stuff. "People who feel that they belong to their local area will get involved with local schemes and initiatives, will help their neighbours, will challenge inappropriate behaviour, will welcome newcomers and help them settle. They will pull together in a crisis and join together in a celebration. All this helps to build cohesive, empowered and active communities."
Ah!!!
I understand now why I have been asked 4 times to complete one of my Local Govt questionaires....
What a waste of time and money...
'...According to government research, three quarters of people strongly feel they belong to their area, but that still leaves one in four of us without that attachment. As Hazel Blears says: "[w]hile social networking sites can connect us with friends all across the world, we may not know our neighbours well enough to have a cup of tea with them"...
How much are we paying the honourable lady?
Go, please. Quietly. Be ever so good as to close the door behind you. It's cold in here, and the lights are out...
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