'Which lifestyles are in place at present?'

The established groups can be classified using not only the classic target-group indicators (income, age, type of household) but also on the basis of lifestyle.

In order to determine what the established lifestyles are, a qualitative picture is needed of the dominant groups in the neighbourhood. The focus here will be on describing emotions and motivation rather than generating numbers.

What are the features of the established socio-cultural structure? What are the main social groups in the neighbourhood? What are their characteristics, what guides their patterns of behaviour? Are they neighbourhood-minded or precisely the opposite? How do they behave when it comes to using facilities? What are their main reasons for wanting to live here? Did they come of their own free will or because they had no other choice?

Here, it is important to understand the socio-cultural problems that play a role in the neighbourhood. But it is also vitally important to understand the opportunities provided by the established groups and it is precisely in this latter area that there has been a shift in thinking in recent years: every group of people has its own potential that can be used positively; we must not focus exclusively on the problems in a neighbourhood. The ABCD method (Asset-Based Community Development) is one of the main products of this philosophy.

An understanding is required of social history in recent decades: how, when and why have groups come to live here? Who were they, what was distinctive about them? Which changes have taken place and why did that happen? Which new groups have become dominant recently compared to the groups of a few decades ago, and why have those new groups come to live here? What are the local stories, the 'narratives' of the neighbourhood?

An understanding is also required of the socio-cultural image of the area that prevails in the vicinity. Urban regeneration neighbourhoods often have a negative image, even though this may not concur with thinking in the neighbourhood itself. So it is also important to talk about the neighbourhood with key players from outside the area.

How can lifestyles be defined?

Make a study to determine which groups can be identified on the basis of behaviour.

• a) First of all, it is important to determine whether groups are neighbourhood-minded or not: how do they use the neighbourhood? Are they neighbourhood-oriented? What does the social network look like, does it overlap with the residential area or is it located on a broader scale (where do friends live, where are the facilities that people use, etc.)? This results in two groups:
  • Group 1, which sees the neighbourhood not only as the place where their homes are, but also as the place where their lives are located. They want to be active in the neighbourhood itself.
  • Group 2, which sees the neighbourhood as a base: it is where their homes are, but their lives are spent elsewhere. They are happy with the neighbourhood as long as they are not bothered by it.
• b) Check whether group 1 can really be dealt with as a single group or whether there are major differences within it. This can be determined by looking at concrete patterns of using facilities:
  • schools, crèches and care facilities; lifestyle is just one element that may determine the use of these facilities; which type of school, type of crèche and type of care facility is chosen does depend on lifestyle;
  • recreation, sport, catering and culture: it is in this area in particular that differences in patterns of use emerge, opening up the possibility of distinguishing between a variety of lifestyles.
  It is important here to establish a picture not only of the actual user profile but also to make use of the underlying motives.

It is possible to get to grips properly with group 1 and any underlying subgroups by means of interviews with key players from the neighbourhood. In the case of group 2, it is more difficult to recruit key players, precisely because they are less committed to their own neighbourhood and therefore tend to be less organised than the first group.

Incidentally, some target groups (which are defined on the basis of socio-demographic characteristics) may overlap completely with lifestyles (which are defined on the basis of motives, and of patterns of behaviour and housing patterns). Urban regeneration neighbourhoods, for example, are often home to a group of 'original residents' who were never either willing or able to leave and who have now grown old. These 'abandoned seniors' will have many similar preferences. As stated above, there are differences in lifestyle in lowincome groups, but these groups do not have enough resources to express them. That is why target groups and lifestyles often coincide in urban regeneration areas. People with low incomes tend to be forced more into relinquishing priorities and preferences in order to survive.

The annex provides, for the purposes of inspiration, examples of existing lifestyle classifications.