Race, Housing and Community: Perspectives on Policy and Practice

This book provides an important new contribution to debates around housing policy and its impact on community cohesion.

There has never been a more prescient time to discuss these concepts: the book provides an interpretation of housing, race and community cohesion in a highly politicized and fluid policy context. It is designed to initiate discussion and debate but this should not be esoteric and limited to a group of academics. Rather the objective is to bridge academic and policy audiences in the hope that this fusion provides a basis for a new agenda to discuss these topics.

Race and community have been key features of social housing policy over the last 20 years with many high-profile interventions, from the proactive approach by the Housing Corporation to support black and minority ethnic housing associations, to the influential Cantle Report documenting segregation in towns and cities following riots, and the National Housing Federation led Race & Housing Inquiry leading to sector wide recommendations to achieve equality.

However, volume of policy interventions and reports has not been matched by academic outputs that co-ordinate, integrate and critically analyse 'race', housing and community.

Housing, Race & Community Cohesion is the first systematic overview of 'race', housing and community during this tumultuous period. The material presented is robust and research based but also directly engages with issues around policy and delivery. It is designed to reflect the interests both of the academic research community and policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic. It is not rooted to specific policy interventions that could quickly date but instead focuses on developing new ways to analyse difficult issues that will help both students and practitioners now and in the future.

Harris Beider was appointed Professor in Community Cohesion at the Institute of Community Cohesion based at Coventry University in September 2007. Previously he was Senior Fellow at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham. Prior to his academic career, Harris was Executive Director of the Federation of Black Housing Organizations and founding Director of People for Action. He was also an advisor to government on community renewal and social exclusion the latter as a member of the Prime Minister's Social Exclusion Unit. Harris Beider has written extensively on race, cohesion, community and housing and spoken about these and related subjects nationally and internationally.