The neighbourhood of arrivals has always been defined by the people just passing through
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A Place Made Entirely Of Newcomers Has A Character All Its Own
Here is something true about Shoreditch that is often said as a criticism but that I think is actually the point: almost everyone here is from somewhere else. Few of the people who populate the neighbourhood are from Shoreditch originally; they have arrived, from elsewhere in London, from elsewhere in Britain, from elsewhere in the world, drawn to the neighbourhood for its opportunities and its energy and its reputation. Shoreditch is a neighbourhood of arrivals, made almost entirely of newcomers, and this is not a flaw but a defining characteristic, the source of a particular kind of character all its own.
The Neighbourhood Of Arrivals
Shoreditch has long been a neighbourhood of arrivals, a place where people come from elsewhere, drawn by what the neighbourhood offers. This has been true across its history, the area receiving waves of newcomers, each drawn by the opportunities of the moment. The current Shoreditch, full of creatives and freelancers and workers from everywhere, continues this tradition, a neighbourhood of arrivals, populated by people from somewhere else. The newcomers define the neighbourhood, their arrival its constant feature, their from-elsewhere-ness its defining characteristic. Shoreditch is, and has long been, a place made of people just arrived from somewhere else.
This constant arrival gives the neighbourhood a particular character, the character of a place defined by newcomers rather than by an established native population. The neighbourhood of arrivals lacks the deep roots, the established traditions, the settled identity of a place populated by people who have always been there. Instead it has the energy, the openness, the constant renewal of a place made of newcomers, people drawn from elsewhere, bringing their varied backgrounds and ambitions and energies. The character of Shoreditch is the character of arrival, of newcomers, of a place forever being populated by people from somewhere else.
The Energy Of The Newcomer
The newcomers bring a particular energy to the neighbourhood, the energy of people drawn by ambition and opportunity, people who have chosen to come, who are seeking something, who bring the drive of those who have left elsewhere to arrive here. This energy of the newcomer, the drive and ambition of those who have come seeking opportunity, animates the neighbourhood, giving it the dynamism and creativity for which it is known. The energy of Shoreditch is the energy of its newcomers, the drive of people who have arrived from elsewhere seeking what the neighbourhood offers, bringing their ambition and creativity to the place they have chosen.
This energy is a real asset, the source of much of the neighbourhood’s creativity and dynamism. The newcomers, seeking opportunity, bringing ambition, create the energy that makes the neighbourhood vibrant. Their from-elsewhere-ness, often cited as a criticism, is in fact the source of the energy that defines the place, the drive of arrivals animating the neighbourhood. The energy of the newcomer is the energy of Shoreditch, the dynamism brought by people who have come from elsewhere seeking opportunity, bringing their ambition to the neighbourhood they have chosen to make their own.
The Question Of Community
There is a genuine question, though, about whether a neighbourhood of arrivals can form a real community, whether people from elsewhere, often just passing through, can create the bonds and continuity of a settled community. The constant arrival and departure, the transience of many newcomers, can work against the formation of deep community, the bonds that develop among people who stay. The neighbourhood of arrivals may have energy but lack community, dynamism but lack roots, newcomers but lack the settled bonds of a stable population. The question of community is real for a neighbourhood made of people from somewhere else.
Yet community can form even among newcomers, even in a neighbourhood of arrivals. The newcomers who stay, who put down roots, who form bonds, create community even in a transient place. And the shared experience of arrival, of being newcomers together, can itself form a kind of community, the bonds among people who have all come from elsewhere. The neighbourhood of arrivals can form community, not the deep-rooted community of a settled population, but a community of newcomers, of people who have come from elsewhere and made the neighbourhood their own. The question of community has an answer: community can form even among arrivals, even in a place made of people from somewhere else.
The Place Of Newcomers
Everyone in Shoreditch is from somewhere else, and this is the point, the defining characteristic of a neighbourhood of arrivals, a place made of newcomers with a particular character all its own. For the actual record, the Office for National Statistics has it, and the Greater London Authority covers the wider picture. The newcomers bring energy and dynamism, the drive of people drawn by opportunity, animating the neighbourhood with their ambition and creativity. The from-elsewhere-ness so often cited as a criticism is in fact the source of the neighbourhood’s energy, the defining feature of a place made of arrivals. Shoreditch is the place of newcomers, defined by the people just arrived from somewhere else, and its character, its energy, its constant renewal, all flow from this, the neighbourhood of arrivals, made of people from elsewhere, forever being populated anew by newcomers seeking what the place has to offer.
More from the desk of Cyndi Himmelstiere, and further wit at The Poke.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
