Dr Patria Roman-Velazquez’s work highlighted in BAME regeneration programmes across London
Patria was recently interviewed for the ‘Shaping London’s Town Centres’ report following her work with Latin Elephant and she will be presenting at the Runnymede report launch at the start of June.
The Centre for London (Think Tank) will be launching the ‘Shaping London’s Town Centres’ report on the 26 May 2021. Latin Elephant been highlighted within this report for the work with BAME in regeneration programmes across London. The report will also feature an interview with Dr Patria Roman-Velazquez.
Patria will also be presenting at the Runnymede report launch on the 1 June 2021, following a previous interview. This report will present data from Latin Elephant working with BAME groups in London to substantiate the argument that BAME groups are disproportionately impacted in developer-led gentrification in London. This report was a collaborative effort.
These instances demonstrate how Latin Elephant is being used as a case study of good practice for the inclusion of BAME groups in process of urban change in London.
Dr Patria Roman-Velazquez is a Senior Lecturer within our Institute for Media and Creative Industries and is the founder of the charity Latin Elephant.
Latin Elephant, a London based charity, works with BAME groups and Latin Americans in particular to increase engagement, participation and inclusion of migrant and ethnic groups in processes of urban change in London. The charity was founded by Patria Roman-Velazquez in 2014 in order to address the particular needs of BAME traders in the regeneration of Elephant and Castle in the borough of Southwark, London. The Charity works across three areas: Policy and Research, BAME business readiness programme and Community Engagement.
Patria has said:
“Latin Elephant emerged at a time of intense regeneration projects in Elephant and Castle. The area is home to the largest Latin American business cluster in London. BAME traders and local groups feared that gentrification will fragment their community spaces and would subsequently be pushed out of the area. Together with other groups and local traders we have managed to put race at the forefront of the planning process and have been praised for our inclusive and participatory approaches to regeneration.
We have gone from strength to strength and managed to achieved significant gains for BAME traders in the area. Seeing the work of Latin Elephant being singled out as a case study for its inclusive approach to BAME groups in processes of urban change in London makes us all extremely proud of what we have achieved in the last seven years”.
If you are interested in reading the ‘Shaping London’s Town Centres’ report, you can register interest here.