Sustainable Communities
What are we doing?
LSE Housing and Communities, based at the London School of Economics, has received funding for a four-year research project to explore how low-income neighbourhoods have changed since 2010 and how they can become socially, economically, and environmentally more viable. We want to understand what has happened to low-income communities in different regions of the United Kingdom between 2010-2024, and what policies and interventions can help make low-income communities more sustainable in future.
Why are we doing this?
We want to learn from the lived experience of residents living in low-income communities, and of key organisations working to improve area conditions and tackle neighbourhood problems. Local communities will share their experiences and ideas about their neighbourhoods. Residents are experts in their own neighbourhoods and this study, grounded in real experience and action, backed by careful research, will feed through to policymakers, government officials, and key stakeholders, in order to make local communities more viable for the people living and working in them.
How are we doing this?
In order to understand changing conditions in low-income neighbourhoods over the last 12 years and uncover ways forward, we will visit 12 areas across England and Wales that we also worked in between 1998-2008. Making repeated visits to these case study areas over three years, we will uncover:
- What makes a low-income community viable socially, economically, and environmentally?
- What undermines its sustainability?
- What actions can be taken to improve conditions and make low-income areas more sustainable?
We will interview residents and frontline staff living and working in each of the 12 areas, alongside key organisations such as schools, social landlords, faith groups and community organisations based within the neighbourhoods.
We will explore the literature about high poverty areas, sustainable communities and government policies and actions in low-income areas. We will write up a portrait of each area, documenting their demographic, economic and social characteristics, along with any changes between 1998-2024. We will also compare the differences between the areas. We plan to organise a 'Think Tank' workshop in September 2025 to develop a definition of ‘sustainable communities’ with the people living and working in those communities.
How will we share our findings?
We will produce a series of reports over the project: a stakeholder report detailing the views of stakeholders across the 12 areas; a resident report which sets out the experiences and insights from our interviews with residents. We will produce 12 detailed area reports, one for each of the communities in the study. Finally, we plan to write a book which sets out our findings in more detail, and highlights the policies and practices that can help or hinder low-income communities, setting out the factors that increase their viability as places to live and work, making them more sustainable.
Who are LSE Housing and Communities?
LSE Housing and Communities are a small research group within the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics. They have many years’ experience in social housing, community, neighbourhood and urban problems. They have previously done research into neighbourhood conditions, including a long-running study of 12 low-income areas from 1998-2008 that form the backbone of this project.
The LSE Housing and Communities team is made up of:
- Professor Anne Power, Professor of Social Policy and Head of LSE Housing and Communities
- Laura Lane, Policy and Research Officer
- Ellie Benton, Research Assistant
- Joe Usher, Project Support Assistant
- Jessica Horne Rowan, Research Manager
Participate
If you would like to take part in this study, or receive updates about the research project please sign up here or scan the QR code:
You can also contact Ellie Benton on E.Benton@lse.ac.uk for further information.
Image credit: London Fields, London. Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/4hcpIbqQM8c