ABSTRACT
Immigrant ethnic neighbourhoods—certainly those in Europe—are often associated with unemployment, vice and crime. With economic activity depressed and prospects uncertain, they easily become poverty traps. The concentration of ‘urban outcasts’ in the French ‘banlieues’, Dutch ‘concentration neighbourhoods’ and Danish ‘ghettos’ arouse concern, even suspicion (Wacquant 2008). But while representations of urban deprivation and decay speak their truths, they tell far from the whole story. For instance, recent years have witnessed the rise of ethnic neighbourhoods—notably their shopping areas—as sites for tourism, leisure and consumption in cities around the world. Brick Lane (‘Banglatown’) in London, Kreuzberg (‘Klein Istanbul’) in Berlin, la rue du Faubourg Saint Denis (‘Quartier Indien’) in Paris, and the Zeedijk (‘Chinatown’) in Amsterdam are only a few examples of ethnic neighbourhoods that attract tens of thousands of visitors from all corners of the world.
