Lived Experience

Lived experience is important to Human Geographers when considering the effects of regeneration in an area and how people's lived experience changes as the place around them changes. Lived experience is also important to policymakers when regeneration is being planned and proposed.

Lived Experience – Definition

Lived experience is a person's first-hand experience of living in a particular place. A person's lived experience will be made up of their thoughts, feelings, opinions and attitudes towards the place that they live in. Lived experience accounts from residents, if gathered and recorded, is important qualitative research.

The term lived experience will often be used with the terms engagement and attachment. These three terms are interrelated and influence each other.

A person’s lived experience is significant because it will impact a person’s attachment to a place and will alter their level of engagement in that place. A person’s lived experience and attachment will influence their attitudes towards the place in which they live. A person’s lived experience will also influence the actions and decisions they make in the place where they live.

Lived Experience – Theory

A person’s lived experience is unique to them and is closely related to their attachment to places. A person's lived experience and attachment to that place depends on several factors:

• Age

• Ethnicity

• Gender

• The length of time a person has lived in a particular place

• The level of deprivation/affluence

Another way of analysing a person’s lived experience in a particular place is by applying the acronym DWAGES (Disability, Wealth, Age, Gender, Ethnicity and Sexuality). This is particularly useful when considering how different groups of people may have very different lived experiences, even though they live in the same place.

Let's look at some theoretical examples of how lived experience might alter depending on the variables listed above and examine how that might change a person's engagement and attachment to the place where they live.

The theoretical lived experience of a child (0-12 yrs)

The lived experience of a preschool child will depend on the facilities provided in the area for this age group, for example, nursery schools, playgroups and playgrounds. A preschool child's lived experience will also depend on the quality of their housing. The amount of deprivation/affluence in the area where they live and the deprivation/affluence of their caregivers will influence their lived experience. The lived experience of a school-age child will depend on the above as well as the primary school that they attend, their access to private and public play spaces and the clubs and leisure activities that are available in their neighbourhood. This will influence how engaged this age group become in the place where they live.

Fig. 1 - A closed playground can impact the lived experience of children.

The theoretical lived experience of a teenager/young adult (13–20 yrs)

Young people's lived experiences will depend on the factors mentioned above. In addition, their lived experience may now become layered if they move house or migrate to a different country. Length of residence in an area will begin to become more of an active factor; for example, if they move to a new area and become a student, then their length of residence in that place will influence their lived experience. As their independence increases, their lived experience will change and develop. Factors related to their ethnicity and gender (discrimination, prejudice and personal safety) will begin to influence their lived experience. Their level of engagement in the place where they live may alter. This age group may become active and engaged positively or negatively in the place where they live.

The theoretical lived experience of an adult

An adult may have more experiences of different places, and this will influence their lived experience of the place that they currently live. The level of deprivation in an area may impact a person in a different way as they become an adult. Deprivation will influence their engagement in the wider neighbourhood and their job prospects.

Lived Experience, Engagement, Attachment and the Links to Deprivation

A person's lived experience and attachment will influence their engagement in the place they live. It is useful to look at the relationship between engagement and deprivation.

Regeneration could result in different levels of engagement. If the policymakers and investment goals of private companies are at odds with the local residents, it could result in disengagement. The situation may mobilise and activate people politically and drive increased engagement in the form of protest, lobbying and voting in local and national elections.

It is often the case that the most deprived areas that need regeneration are also the areas with low political engagement. If regeneration is to be successful, it is important that there is engagement from representatives from all the different social groups living in an area. Giving residents a voice and enabling their lived experience and attachment to a place to be heard and taken into account is a significant part of the regeneration process.

Fig. 2 - Protest in New Zealand. Lived experience can inform protests.

Lived Experience in Research – Voter Turnout

Engagement can be measured by looking at the percentage turnout of people voting in local and national elections. The polling company IPSOS Mori publishes statistics that look at this turnout.

It is important to remember all the different factors that contribute to a person's lived experience in different areas. These differences might well be masked if we just considered the overall turnout across each constituency.

Levels of engagement can also be assessed by finding out if people know who their local MP is and looking at how they engage with local issues in their area, for example:

• How many people write to their MP?

• How many people are involved in campaigns, pressure groups and activities which relate to local issues?

• What is the turnout at public events and meetings that occur to inform the public about issues facing the community or are organised to assess and gather the opinions of the local community?

The level of engagement can also be assessed by looking at the levels of volunteering and the number of groups and services that have been set up to benefit the area and the residents.

Examples of these might include:

• Litter pick-ups and community gardening groups

• Parent and Teacher associations

• Involvement in local parish councils

• Guide / Scout groups

• Foodbank staffing

• Interest groups meeting up in public spaces and places

Consider the reasons why engagement might be low in different areas, for example:

• High unemployment due to factory/works closure – lack of optimism.

• Lack of trust in politicians – this could be due to age or ethnicity

• A recent move into the area – e.g. student, immigration therefore less attachment to place.

• Language barrier or education barrier reducing engagement generally in politics.

Lived Experience in research – Indices of Multiple Deprivation

The Multiple Deprivation Index (MDI) is worked out by combining seven different measurements of life quality. These are:

1. Income
2. Employment
3. Education
4. Health
5. Crime
6. Barriers to housing and services
7. Living environment

The percentages indicate how much weight is given to each factor in the calculation of the MDI for an area. The MDI shows all the factors that contribute to this part of a person's lived experience.

The map below shows a simplified version of the 2017 MDI for Northern Ireland.

Fig. 3 - MDI for Northern Ireland in 2017

It is important to note that these maps can sometimes be deceiving. Deprived neighbourhoods can be hidden within an overall less deprived Local Authority area. A Spearman's rank analysis could be used to make comparisons between two sets of information.

Lived Experience Example of Political Engagement Changing Regeneration

In the 1970s, the Greater London Council (GLC) drew up plans for regenerating an area south of the River Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridge. These plans included what would have been Europe's tallest hotel and over one million square feet of office space. Local people felt ignored by these proposals, so formed the Coin Street Action Group. They drew up their own regeneration plans that put their needs first and focused on housing and community facilities.

After seven years of campaigning and a two-year-long public enquiry, the GLC backed the schemes drawn up by the group, and the Coin Street Community Builders was established.

Lived Experience and Examples of Regeneration Causing Conflict

The causes of conflict in a particular area will be unique to that place. In general, the aims and priorities of the government agencies, professionals and businesses behind regeneration plans can often differ from the priorities of the residents. The potential causes of conflict could be due to the following:

• the regeneration proposals do not address the lack of opportunities for employment in the resident population eg: closure of the heavy industry, replaced with high-tech companies employing graduates and other specialists.

• economic inequalities, e.g. regeneration proposals may provide improved housing stock, but this may not be affordable for local residents.

• lack of community engagement and political activism, leading to the opinions of residents not being heard or taken into account in the planning stages of the proposed regeneration.

• tensions between minority groups or between minority groups and institutions like the police.

The London riots in August 2011 are an example of where many negative lived experiences (police attitudes towards black residents) combined with urban deprivation (lack of economic opportunities for young people) and frustrations over inequality (banker bonuses, government cutbacks on Education Maintenance Allowance) to create civic unrest, protest and rioting.

Fig. 4 - Riots in Barcelona, Spain, saw the destruction of a Starbucks by fire.