Parallel lives: Towards a greater understanding of what mixed communities can offer

The creation of mixed communities has become a key element of UK housing policy but empirical research in such areas is limited. Through interviews with and diaries kept by residents of three mature estates, planned as mixed tenure from the start, levels of neighbourhood usage and social interaction are analysed. The techniques used deliberately replicate earlier work in mixed-tenure regeneration areas. While giving some support to the conventional wisdom that owners and renters tend to live separate lives, the distinctions are not as strong as previously suggested and the estates studied differ from each other. Explanations are drawn from both physical planning and community development. The authors indicate the parameters needed for such developments to meet residents' aspirations and draw out the lessons for policy.