Anthropological Study on the Possibility of Creating a Local Community in an Urban Space

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The purpose of this study is to explore, based on a specific case study: 1) the meaning of regional society in a cosmopolitan city where diverse people gather and socialise, and move in and out quickly, and 2) the possibility of creating connections among people based in the urban space, going beyond family or face-to-face regional relationships in such floating societies, i.e. establishing residents' organisations and/or creating a local community. The paper focuses on the activities of Grove Neighbourhood Centre (GNC), a non-profit community centre established during the 1970s in the residential area of Hammersmith in Western London. Field research was conducted every August from 2004 until 2007, in which the researcher, while engaging in the centre's activities, continually gathered information from participants and collected data.The community surveyed upon was in a residential area with majority comprising the working class. However, gentrification advanced rapidly since the 1990s … More and the middle class dominates today. The change in residents' composition triggered intricate transitions in the hierarchical economic consciousness among the old and new residents. The final report 1) traced the process of establishing GNC as well as the transformation of its objective and role in the community, 2). introduced GNC's activities (e.g. 'providing multi-purpose space for residents' group, creating networks that link local people and information, activities of residents' groups and social support for individuals) and 3) revealed the problems of organisational management and financial issues that GNC faces today. The report further discussed whether the physical space of GNC as a community centre and its management-neither having a basis of specific residents' organisation nor being a residents' movement for rights acquisition or for dissidents-can become an arena for accepting and connecting various residents' groups and individuals who feel isolated in the community. The paper also summarised the current difficulty of GNC's experimental attempt and survival strategy, as well as the possibility for future development. Less