Race, space and place: lessons from Sheffield

Abstract

How has housing played a role in incorporating immigrants into English society? Inspired by a small demonstration project in Sheffield, Twice the Terrace, which aimed to convert two small bye-law houses into a single larger house appropriate for a large and traditional Pakistani family, the paper traces the history of this house type using the concept of living-in-space to explore not only the social practices of families living inside them, but also the way they affect relationships outside the property itself. Using Keith’s concept of racialization as being equally about how specific ethnic groups re-invent themselves over time and how urban space provides a stage on which the performance of re-invention simultaneously alters the urban object itself, the paper traces the history of the demonstration project as it emerged from a localised struggle to prevent the demolition of the area within which it was located (Keith, 2005). The paper concludes that while houses play important roles in incorporating immigrants into English society, it is not the same role everywhere at all times. Both localisation and temporisation are important processes in grasping the wider role of racialization in urban change.