Community Engagement
- People, who live in areas requiring regeneration, know they live in deprived, run-down areas but may not be able, or want, to do anything about it
- This is the idea of community engagement
- There are variations in the level of community engagement, which can be measured through:
- Local and national election turnout
- The number of community activities
- The number of supported local community groups
- If an area is more deprived, it is likely to have a weaker sense of community and less engagement
Election turnout
- It is estimated that 9.4 million eligible voters (2019) in the UK are not registered to vote
- The groups least likely to be on the electoral roll and therefore can’t vote are:
- People living in poverty
- Black people
- Young people
- People living in urban areas
- Areas that need regeneration the most, have the poorest turnout for general and local elections
- Traditionally, rural areas tend to have higher turnouts in elections than urban areas
- In the 2019 UK general elections, 67.3% of the eligible population voted
- There were large variations in turnout:
- 74% of over-65s voted, compared to 47% of 18-24 year-olds
- Younger people often have more distrust of politicians
- East Dunbartonshire (Scotland) had the highest turnout (80.3%)
- Kingston upon Hull East had the lowest turnout (49.3%)
- 68% of people employed as professionals and managers voted, whereas only 53% of manual workers voted
- Only 52% of ethnic minority groups chose to vote. This may be due to:
- People may feel a lack of belonging to a community and that they have little influence
- Possible language barriers
Electoral Characteristics for Reading & Middlesbrough
Electoral data | Reading | Middlesbrough |
% turnout of registered voters (2019 General Election) | 70 | 56.1 |
Turnout change since 2017 (%) | -1.8 | -2.2 |
Median age (years) | 33 | 37 |
Professional and management jobs | 57.9 | 34.9 |
Manual jobs (%) | 13.2 | 25.9 |
Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) - average rank out of 317 local authorities | 141 | 16 |
Ethnicity (non-white %) | 46.5 | 11.7 |
- The data shows that Middlesbrough:
- Is a substantially more deprived area than Reading
- Has a higher amount of manual workers, who will have lower incomes, compared to Reading
- Has a lower percentage of professionals and managers than Reading
- Has a lower level of community engagement based on the amount of people that voted
- This is due to the level of deprivation and the types of jobs found in the area
- The turnout for the 2022 local elections in England was 33.6%
Exam Tip
Find out what the local and general election turnouts are for your two contrasting places
Community groups
- People engage with their place through community action groups. These are created for many reasons:
- Voluntary committees managing local allotments, open spaces and nature reserves, village shops
- Powerful and vocal 'NIMBY' (not in my backyard) groups protesting over planned developments, such as new housing, fracking and wind farms
- Local charities fundraising to help vulnerable people in the local community (Meals on Wheels, transport to hospitals and friendship groups)
- Residents of an estate may form a group due to growing inequalities or social issues e.g. to reduce antisocial behaviour
- Support for local community groups varies across the country, depending upon local engagement and the group's purpose
- A stronger community can be created by establishing social groups and encouraging members to join
- Regeneration relies on community participation at all stages