Context
Newcastle upon Tyne is the regional capital of the North East of England. The city has a population of 273.600 residents with 6.9% of the population from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community (Government Office for the North East, 2002)
The area was once a vibrant industrial centre based on coal mining and ship building. Such industry has now disappeared and regeneration has been based on investment in technology and a successful entertainment and financial services industry. However, more than a third of the population of Newcastle lives in areas that are among the 10% most deprived areas in the country (Equality Action Plan, Newcastle City Council, 2007).
North East of England is the smallest and least diverse of the nine English regions. However, between 1991 and 2001, the North East witnessed one of the country's greatest rises in migrant population. There was a 42 % increase in the number of new immigrants in this decade, with only London seeing faster growth (Kyambi IPPR, 2005 cited in Renton, 2008). As well as experiencing an increase in migrants, Newcastle has also experienced a diversification of migrants in recent years. The arrival of asylum seekers did not take place in significant numbers until 1999 onwards with the introduction of the dispersal system.
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Last Updated: 16/02/10
