Migration and Urbanism in Glasgow: The Spatial Impact of South Asian Communities

Abstract

South Asian communities have lived in Scotland since the late nineteenth century, experiencing a substantial growth in the post-war period. This paper contributes a new understanding of the spatial practices of South Asian communities in the city of Glasgow based on statistics and surveys. The authors aim to address the gap in literature by analysing patterns of location and trends across the city region over the census period of 2011. The study furthermore integrates a walking tour assessment generated by checklists and a recording scheme. The attributes of cultural identity, economic diversity and socio-spatial practice of six urban spaces within three selected neighbourhoods are examined. Two urban spaces were chosen from each neighbourhood to interpret the diversity of land uses along each case study and the social interaction as well as economic activities of South Asian residents. This suggests that the idea of a coherent 'Asian community' obscures differences and generates assumptions regarding residential behaviour and 'in-group' identities. The research, therefore, provides an enhanced understanding of how these distinctive communities interact with a built environment, which has not been designed to cater certain spatial practices.

Citation

Remali, A.M., Salama, A.M. and Wiedmann, F. (2019), "Migration and Urbanism in Glasgow: The Spatial Impact of South Asian Communities", Open House International, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-04-2019-B0007