Welcome to 'Monkey Island': Identity, Community and Migration Histories in Three Norwich Estates

In response to this, the present government has channelled resources through the New Deal for Communities to selected neighbourhoods, including the North Earlham, Larkman and Marlpit (NELM) estates in Norwich. In this paper we draw on an ongoing piece of research with estate residents to begin to explore questions regarding shifting social and spatial identity practices in the area.1 The New Deal for Communities has the idea of 'community' literally 'at the heart' of a 'long term commitment to deliver real change'. 'Community involvement and [community] ownership' are described as key characteristics.2 Here we suggest that the very idea of 'community' is a construction that does not necessarily reflect how people think about their relations with others in the neighbourhood they live in.

Among other things, even in estates regarded as 'white', migration histories matter. This represents the very beginning of our analysis of the interrelation between official descriptions of the area as deprived and residents' own social and spatial identity practices.