Social mixing and the London East Village: exclusion, habitus and belonging in a post-Olympics neighbourhood

This research critically examines policy aims and outcomes related to social mixing in the London 2012 former Athletes’ Village –now East Village–in Stratford (a Newham borough’s district located in East London). It maps the development of the neighbourhood in the context of local and national housing policy, the regeneration of Stratford, the proposal to host the Olympics, the alignment to the IOC Olympic Legacy goals, place-making and branding strategies, and the lived experiences of residents across a range of tenures. The thesis contributes to existing literature that evaluates the housing legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games. It also extends literature on socio-spatial exclusion–over class and ethnicity -and claims to belonging in urban space. Bourdieu’s (1977) concepts of habitus, distinction, symbolic violence and field theory frame the data analysis. The research focuses on four neighbourhood dimensions: housing, semi-private space, public space and neighbourhood facilities. The work draws on data from semi-structured interviews, participant observation, documentary analysis, questionnaires and census data secondary analysis. The thesis argues that various processes, practices and actors come together to produce an environment that panders to the dispositions of white middle-class individuals. Their habitus becomes dominant within the neighbourhood field. Therefore, the ambitions of social mixing are not met in practice. The themes and issues discussed demonstrate that East Village, which was presented as a key element of the legacy objective “Homes for all” (Growth Boroughs, 2009), is a space that actively reproduces the exclusion of BAME and working-class individuals, who make up the majority of the Stratford and Newham’s population. East Village is a place for neoliberal individuals that are moved by the rationale to accumulate various forms of capital within the neighbourhood field; thus, generating categories of distinction. The management looks after all aspects of the neighbourhood’s life. It provides the theatrical stage on which spectacles and events are played out, and the only director is the management itself