Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how superdiversity and everyday multiculturalism have been utilized within spatial planning policies. We argue that cultural rather than political difference often inform understandings of identity in state-led urban regeneration focusing on the Korean "community" in London

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines how superdiversity and everyday urban multiculturalism have been utilized within spatial planning policies. The rise is attention to everyday or convivial multiculturalism has produced new perspectives on the material practices of living in diverse places (sJones et al., 2015). We argue that more connections are needed with structural inequalities (Young, 1990). Cultural difference often inform understandings of identity in state-led regeneration. Yet they are deeply problematic as they often rely on essentialized ethnic singularity. Through an examination of one group, the Korean "community" in New Malden, we explore how a particular set of discourses have emerged. The Korean community, based in south-west London, are in fact a diverse group including North Korean and Korean Chinese people (Shin, 2018). Our paper examines urban regeneration projects and intersections with representations of urban diversity Whilst these have capitalized on the recent popularity of South Korean culture, the history of the Korean community in New Malden is more complex and challenges assumptions of ethnicity and identity in London.

References

Jones, H., Neal, S., Mohan, G., Connell, K., Cochrane, A. and Bennett, K., 2015. Urban multiculture and everyday encounters in semi-public, franchised cafe spaces. The Sociological Review, 63(3), pp.644-661.

Shin, H. R. (2018). The Territoriality of Ethnic Enclaves: Dynamics of Transnational Practices and Geopolitical Relations within and beyond a Korean Transnational Enclave in New Malden, London. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108(3), 756-772.

Marion, I.R (1990). Justice and the Politics of Difference. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.