This chapter focuses on Gants Hill, which represents in some ways the archetype of what is happening to London's semi-detached suburbs. The same processes, of what the Chicago sociologists of the 1920s would have called invasion and succession, are happening all over outer suburban areas such as in Ealing, Kingsbury and Gants Hill. Change and its effects on the locality have overwhelmed Gant Hill. Many of the older residents of Gants Hill stated that they sense a physical decay of their neighbourhood: a decay that is partly an inevitable effect of ageing and accelerated by a sudden decline in...

This chapter focuses on Gants Hill, which represents in some ways the archetype of what is happening to London's semi-detached suburbs. The same processes, of what the Chicago sociologists of the 1920s would have called invasion and succession, are happening all over outer suburban areas such as in Ealing, Kingsbury and Gants Hill. Change and its effects on the locality have overwhelmed Gant Hill. Many of the older residents of Gants Hill stated that they sense a physical decay of their neighbourhood: a decay that is partly an inevitable effect of ageing and accelerated by a sudden decline in the quality of local facilities. They are also powerfully conscious of new residents who they perceive as not quite fitting in as well as compromising the quality of schools and neighbourly relations.