Class, Citizenship and Regeneration: Glasgow

and the CWGs 2014Dr Kim McKee

Department of Geography & Sustainable Development

University of St Andrews

(Paper co-authored with Dr Kirsteen Paton, University of Glasgow &

Dr Gerry Mooney, Open University Scotland)

Outline

Introduction (thesis of the paper)

Classed Relations of Urban Regeneration

Citizenship & the Flawed Consumer

Regeneration as Gentrification

Case Study of CWGs 2014

Conclusion & Questions

Introduction

Advances critical exploration of current tenets of urban regeneration through focus on CWGs 2014:

Central role of class in regeneration narratives

Targeting of ‘problem ‘people & ‘problem ‘places

To be reconstructed as consumer-citizens

Large-scale flagship events one way to challenge ‘flawed consumption’ (CWGs one example)

Explore ways in which CWGs seen as deconstructing/reconstructing working-class lives

Emphasis on consumer-citizenship denies participation & disadvantages those who cannot afford to consume

Synthesize insights from gentrification literature & Foucauldian literature on neo-liberal governmentalities

Classed Relations of Urban Regeneration

Urban regeneration as a classed practice:

Concerned with regulation, management, control & social reproduction of particular populations

Class often neglected in the urban literature, or when not being denied, exist as ‘problems’ or ‘victims’

Presumption many social problems in Britain found primarily in working-class estates (see, Damer 1989)

Apparent when narratives around ‘crisis of welfare’ mobilised – ‘Broken Society’ contemporary example

Class replaced/displaced by narratives around moralised differences/boundaries/binaries

These moral geographies spatialised – particular classes become associated with particular places (Skeggs 2004)

Social housing estates generally imagined as ‘other’ spaces

“…council housing is a living tomb. You dare not give up the house because you might never get another, but staying is to be trapped in a ghetto of both place and mind” (Will Hutton 2007)

“Many social housing estates that were once well functioning working class communities, with a range of people on different incomes, have become, in many inner city areas, ghettos of the poorest and neediest people (Housing & Dependency Working Group 2008: 7)

Citizenship & the Flawed Consumer

Bauman (1998) asserts consumption is now the defining feature of our post-modern society

Rose (2000) argues this reconfiguration of state-citizen relations represent a new ‘politics of conduct’

Civilizing project aimed at reconciling individual conduct with moral discourses of responsible behaviour

Individual welfare & success hinges upon the ability of citizen-consumers to participate in the labour market & enterprise their own lives

Twin processes of empowerment & responsibilisation

Defining feature of the New Labour government’ welfare reforms

Remains strong under current UK coalition (Broken Society)

Political rhetoric of self-help & individualism has a long history

Currently ‘Big Society’ in vogue

Not just about accessing consumption, but expectation individuals will direct acts of consumption themselves

Reflects conditional nature of citizenship: stigmatisation of those who cannot undertake normalised acts

Ability to consume has become an important marker of distinction

Not only legitimates exclusion, but also creates dividing practices

Image often conjured up is that of the problem social housing estate

Policy & political discourses link homeownership with desirable & responsible self-conduct

Housing consumption important point of distinction between ‘successful’ & ‘flawed’ consumers

Serves to mobilise cultural stereotypes about homeowners & social renters

BUT a major limitation of the consumer-citizenship literature is lack of explicit class analysis (Kerr 1999)

Reflects Foucauldian origins of this argument; focuses on subject formation & governing beyond the state

Study of gentrification looks at similar neighbourhood based processes through geographic dynamics of capital accumulation & supporting consumption practices

BUT in a way which is intrinsically classed

Regeneration as Gentrification

Gentrification debates traditionally underpinned by Marxist (Smith 1996; Harvey 1982) & Liberal Humanist accounts (Ley 1996)

Offers discrete economic & cultural explanations of class transformations of neighbourhoods

Economic: identifies a rent-gap, which describes difference in value of inner city land & its potential value if regenerated

Cultural: back to the city movement of middle-class suburban dwellers, born out of consumption practices

Either way – process of class restructuring born out at the neighbourhood level

Role of the state recognised as increasingly important (Hackworth 2002; Slater 2006)

Recognition of fiscal benefit of attracting people & capital to areas for competitive advantages:Towards an Urban Renaissance (1999)People and Place (2006)

Described by Hackworth (2002) as the creation of space for the more affluent user

Effects upon & experiences of working-class residents often absent

Exception to this is recent work by Uitermark et al (2007) – gentrification a strategy to govern:

Policy-led gentrification does not have an immediate profit nor necessarily lead to direct displacement

Additional objective: to civilise unruly populations in ‘declined’ areas

Used by local states to reshape relationship between state & citizens (manage not displace w/c populations)

Synergies in these debates

Both Foucauldian & gentrification debates reveal:Regeneration strategies are a form of urban

restructuring born out of neo-liberalism

Involve two key components of governance: Marketisation & growth focused strategy of the state Expansion of community & individual participation &

citizenship via consumption

Social interventions which ‘other’ the practices & behaviours of w/c communities

Glasgow 2014: festival of consumption?

On November 9 2007 CWG’s Federation chose Glasgow as host city for 2014 Games

“ [the CWGs will] bring a host of benefits to Glasgow and Scotland, including everything from regeneration, job creation, inward investment and just a huge pride in

being Scottish” (Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister)

Not alone in arguing CWGs would ‘transform’ Glasgow’s East End (where new facilities & village located)

After several decades of neglect & ‘failure’, East End & its population now has key role in city’s eco prosperity

“The economic position of the East End remains poor … A complex set of factors combine to limit progress. The area continues to have high levels and concentrations of poverty and low levels of economic activity, and its residents suffer from

poor health, significantly affecting their economic potential. The area still houses some of the

poorest communities in the UK and contains high levels of derelict and contaminated land currently

unusable for economic activity” (East End Partnership, undated, page 5)

Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics

Table of figures

SHETTLESTON

SCOTLAND

% POPULATION INCOME DEPRIVED, 2008

35 15

% WORKING AGE POPULATION, EMPLOYMENT DEPRIVED, 2008

25 12

% POPULATION AGED 60+ CLAIMING GUARANTEED PENSION CREDIT, 2009

46 18

% POPULATION IN SOCIAL HOUSING, 2001

54 29

HOUSE SALES, MEAN PRICE, 2009 105, 302 159, 075

% PEOPLE WITHIN 500 METRES OF A DERELICT SITE

82 30

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS FOR ALCOHOL MISUSE PER 100,000, 2001-04

2305 723

Alongside available brown-field sites for property development, also offers a large reserve arms of labour

To ‘transform’ this area, however, also means concerted political & policy effort to transform the local populous

Challenging ‘welfarism’ & offering other legitimated forms of consumption pivotal

Strategy premised on particular understandings of – and prejudices around – disadvantaged w/c of Glasgow

Importance of Glasgow’s East End

Key locale during Glasgow’s ‘second city’ era in late 19thC/early 20thC

Decline of Empire coupled with successive ravages of de-industrialization & disinvestment = unemployment, poverty & other social ills

East End occupies a particular role in dominant policy & urban renewal discourses surrounding Glasgow:Glasgow the vibrant post-industrial cityHolding back Glasgow & Scotland of the future

Role of sporting events in relation to urban economies has been recognised for some time

Major role in urban governance seen in the augmentation of partnership & coalitions for growth

Focus on long-term ‘legacies’ rather than short-term fixes

Language of legacy belongs to family of ‘effects’ & ‘outcomes’ common in regeneration policy discourses

Key aspect of the legacy for Glasgow’s CWGs is place-specific

Wide-ranging & relate to outcomes for health, education, employment & sustainability:

“An Active Scotland, a Connected Scotland, A Sustainable Scotland and a Flourishing Scotland

represent our ambitions for a lasting and positive legacy. [The CWGs] are about making faster

progress towards a healthier nation; developing healthy communities; and a strong and flourishing

economy” (SG 2009: 6)

Specific, localised interventions, targeted on Glasgow East

Large cluster of venues (Athlete’s Village, Velodrome, National Indoor Sporting Arena) be located there

Co-ordinated by the Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company; promise creation of a “dynamic and sought after city centre location”

Improved transport links to rest of city & beyond (new M74 motorway & EE Regeneration Road Route)

Latest phase of Glasgow’s renaissance & key element to develop Glasgow/Scotland as top tourist destination

“Glasgow’s image, worldwide reputation and civic pride will be strengthened as a result of hosting

the Games. The city will be showcased at its very best to hundreds of thousands of visitors and

hundreds of millions of TV viewers worldwide. We already have an enviable reputation for staging major sporting events and a successful Games will cement our position as a top destination”

(GCC 2009: 14)

Creation of a “sustainable, vibrant new neighbourhood” also central to legacy commitments (SG 2009: 33)

Post-Games, Athlete’s Village will be converted into a new mixed-tenure residential community

Planned projections for social housing higher for 2014 than previous CWGs

However, new development unaffordable for low-income East Enders & already = displacement

Legacy not equally felt by all of those residents remaining in the East End

http://gamesmonitor2014.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/a-tale-of-displacement-and-struggle/

Problematising ‘Legacy’

Highlights problem with using the language of ‘legacy’ – nebulous & opaque

International evidence highlights some limited success in relation to tourism & branding

In the main not very tangible, esp primary stated social benefits pertaining to sport & health (Coalter 2004)

Forecloses idea there might be negative impacts, contestation or resistance locally(Cashman 2009)

Porter (2009) underlines that displacement is the defining feature of mega-sporting events

COHRE (2007) report suggests large sporting-events are

“often catalysts for redevelopment entailing massive displacements and reductions in low cost

and social housing stock, all of which result in significant decreases in housing affordability” (p11)

Already evident in London & Glasgow prior to the Games getting underway (see Porter 2009)

Conclusion: a post-welfare East End?

Anything new in developments highlighted here?

Would suggest there are some significant changes with the past:Need to re-connect ‘marginal’ communitiesClear ‘social’ element inherent in current strategies

Central to the CWGs 2014 is the ‘normalisation’ of the East End (and its population!)

Concern to promote tenure-mix & enable private sector penetration local services = transform local aspirations

Workfare, employability, privatisation & regeneration are entangled in a neo-liberal assault on ‘welfarism’

As Porter (2009: 395) as highlighted “displacement is a defining feature of the mega-event”

Although not on the scale of Dehli, it has real, personal consequences for those affected

As Harvey (2005) reminds us, neoliberalism is above all a class project

Disadvantaged working class lives are seen as problematic

Out of step with the new and modern Glasgow and Scotland

Ignores roots causes of poverty in society

Questions?

Email: km410@st-andrews.ac.uk

A full copy of the paper is available on request; will soon be published online:

Paton, K; Mooney, G; and McKee, K. (In Press) “Class, Citizenship and Regeneration: Glasgow and the Commonwealth Games 2014”, Antipode.

Reference List Bauman, Z. (1998) Work, Consumerism and the New Poor.

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Coalter, F. (2004) Stuck in the blocks? A sustainable sporting legacy. In A. Vigor, M. Mean and C. Tims (eds) After the Gold Rush: A Sustainable Olympics for London (pp 93–108). London: IIPR and Demos.

Clyde Gateway (undated) A Dynamic City Location: Clyde Gateway City Plan [online], available at: http://www.clydegateway.com/downloads/cg_business_plan.doc

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