ABSTRACT
Although the set of processes studied here are — firstly — ongoing and — secondly — at a young stage in their development, it is clear that minority ethnic groups are using space in a different way and that the suburban or core residential location is not an either/or choice for them. Rather many appear to be trying to balance an interest in social and material progression (including for their children), often through residential processes, with religious, cultural and family traditions. It is not clear to what extent the continuing values of culture and family are for practical or psychological reasons, but it is most likely for both. To a certain extent, these residential processes reflect a story of a social group that has become more affluent that mirrors the factors associated with the suburbanisation of wider society. However, there is an ethnic inflection to the causation that has led to these processes, mainly the critical influence of religiosity with its ‘stifling’ and ‘policing’ effects, as well as the continuing fear of discrimination specifying the areas in which people live. Until now, the discussion has been focused more or less exclusively on the qualitative or quantitative results in respective chapters, however, the purpose of this chapter is to draw both aspects together and elaborate the main conclusions along the lines of the three main categories of research objectives.
