Racial integration increasing, study shows

UK 'growing more racially integrated'

Britain has become more racially integrated over the past decade, according to research released today which also debunks what it calls "myths" about Muslims choosing to live separately.

The research from Manchester University is at odds with claims by Trevor Phillips, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality, who has said Britain is "sleepwalking to segregation".

The study also says that immigration is not the reason for increased numbers of non-white Britons over the past decade, and that "white flight" from inner cities is another myth.

The researchers compared data from the 1991 and 2001 censuses, and analysed the change in different ethnic groups in 8,850 electoral wards in England and Wales. It found that the number of mixed neighbourhoods or wards - where at least 10% are from an ethnic minority - increased from 964 to 1,070 in the decade, and predicts that by 2010 the number will rise to 1,300.


The author of the study, Ludi Simpson, said: "The common myth is that the growth of the ethnic minority population is due to immigration. That's not true - it is more due to the growth of [ethnic minority] people born in Britain."

His analysis also challenges claims that Muslims are "self-segregating" themselves into ghettoes, with the study finding only 14 wards where an ethnic minority group comprises more than half the population. In seven of these neighbourhoods, at least half the population is of Indian origin; in the remaining seven, Muslims are the majority community.

Dr Simpson said: "Segregation does not cause social exclusion." There were 118 neighbourhoods where all non-white groups together were greater than half, and he found there was no ward where white people were less than 10% of the population. "The idea of no-go areas or apartheid does not stand up," he said.

One city repeatedly referred to as more segregated was Bradford, the scene of riots in 2001. Between 1991 and 2001 the number of mixed wards increased from 12 to 15, half the total in the West Yorkshire city. In September Mr Phillips grabbed headlines when he claimed that ghettoisation of ethnic minorities in cities such as Leicester and Bradford had almost reached the same levels as in the US. He said: "Residentially, some districts are on their way to becoming fully fledged ghettoes - black holes into which no one goes without fear and trepidation and from which no one ever escapes undamaged ... We are sleepwalking our way to segregation."

According to the study in Birmingham, the scene of violent disturbances recently, the number of racially mixed neighbourhoods increased from 18 to 27 of the city's 39 electoral wards. Official figures show the area affected, Lozells, has a very high incidence of poverty and deprivation.

Dr Simpson said his study suggests factors such as poverty have to be taken into account more than racial tension. In short, where people live is not as big a factor as some people are claiming.

"The research shows that geography is not the issue," Dr Simpson said. "Social conditions on the ground such as poverty and equal access to housing and the jobs markets for all groups are more important factors."