Revue des arts et des sciences sociales

Community Participation in Housing Market Regeneration: The Reasons for Lack of Black and Minority Ethnic Participation and Engagement

Abstract

Kolawole Ijasan, Vian Ahmed, Damilola Oluwumi

Man is a very social being; hence we all desire to reside in liveable communities where our life aspirations can be met. To achieve this, we often times need to regenerate our communities. The importance of engaging with community members in the process of regeneration has been widely accepted as good practice because of its benefits to both the government agencies as well as to the members of the community. However, there is a seeming lack of active participation on the part of the community members. Many reasons have been specified for this lack, so also has so much funds been expended on getting members of the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities to participate and engage with government agencies. This paper discusses some of the main factors that influence community regeneration and the importance of community engagement. In this paper, the concept of BME participation in regeneration is discussed, the barriers preventing BMEs from participating in community regeneration are reviewed and facilitators of enhanced participation are explored. Results of interviews with stakeholders in community regeneration are presented and the main findings which borders on the reason for lack of participation of BMEs and what can be done to alleviate this situation are summarised.