How has the Olympic legacy transformed the heart of East London? Understanding socio-economic exclusions and disproportionate COVID-19 impact on minoritised communities through a rights-based perspective

This research paper explores the experience of British-Bangladeshi and Black African Caribbean communities living in the areas surrounding London's Olympic Park, in terms of how they are appropriating the legacy-led socio-spatial changes, applying Lefebvre's right to the city perspective....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Farjana Islam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1170466/full
Description
Summary:This research paper explores the experience of British-Bangladeshi and Black African Caribbean communities living in the areas surrounding London's Olympic Park, in terms of how they are appropriating the legacy-led socio-spatial changes, applying Lefebvre's right to the city perspective. Highlighting the top-down legacy-led regeneration process, the empirical evidence suggests that the games-led regeneration is contributing to an unjust trade-off between pre-existing minoritised ethnic residents and wealthier gentrifiers, ignoring the real needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged ethnic minority communities in East London. The findings provide a further understanding of factors such as housing and health-related inequalities and sub-standard living conditions, which may have contributed to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Bangladeshi and African Caribbean people living in East London boroughs. Given the scale of the pandemic, the paper argues that a greater understanding of the socio-structural problems and barriers arising out of poverty and deprivation is needed in order to formulate appropriate policy interventions to reduce disproportionate social, economic and health-related impacts on some minoritised communities, which could be achieved through residents' active participation and appropriation at different stages of the legacy-led regeneration process.
ISSN:2624-9367