The Importance Of Segregation In Urban Social Life

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Urban social life is ever changing it is made and remade through and in spite of boundaries that are physical or envisioned. It is shaped by individuals and their identities through connections and disconnections of segregation and integration (The Open University, 2017a, p.33) encompassing social groups of economic status, kinship, religion, race, ethnicity, country of origin and class or a combination of these. This essay will first look to define the key terms; it will then move on to examine the different types of evidence used to support this claim. Firstly, in Belfast at how conflict shaped the city and how it’s attempting to unite the residence. Secondly, to Portland Street in London which has always been a microcosm of disconnections and finally through migrant mothers, how their move to London has allowed them to maintain their ethnic backgrounds.
Segregation in urban living refers to social and spatial boundaries that are erected between individuals or groups (Dixon and Hinchliffe, 2014, p.95); this can be a generational cycle that is difficult to break. It can also cause disconnections between individuals and groups that make it difficult to see things outside of their own views or beliefs (Dixon and Hinchliffe, 2014, p.108). On the other hand these same social groups can create a sense of integration in urban residential life, which refers to the unification of people or groups by association with the use of social capital to create a better living environment.

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