Muslims’ participation in regeneration projects in Britain: a case study of Ellesmere Green, Burngreave, Sheffield

Community participation has been at the centre of British urban planning since its recognition in the late 1960s (the Town and Country Planning Act (1968) and the Skeffington Report People and Planning (1969) promoted as a means of democratising decision-making. Despite its institutionalisation through planning legislation and policy frameworks, participation remains limited in practice and continues to exclude community groups. Communities differentiated by ethnicity, socio-economic status, culture, and religion often experience limited influence over regeneration projects. Muslim communities embody characteristics and are frequently positioned within cohesion and integration policy as challenging to engage. Yet, Muslims are often treated through ethnic or minority categories, with insufficient attention to how lived religious, cultural, and social practices shape their participation.

This thesis examines this gap by investigating Muslims participation in the Ellesmere Green regeneration project in Burngreave, Sheffield, through a qualitative case-study approach. The case study was selected due to the high concentration of Muslim residents in the area. The research combines semi-structured interviews, mapping workshops, observation, and grey literature analysis to examine Muslims participation from community, institutional, and policy perspectives.

The findings show that Muslim participation in the Ellesmere Green project was limited in both extent and influence. Although participation processes were undertaken, many Muslims did not engage in them and did not perceive them as meaningful routes to shape decision-making. Participation was constrained by limited awareness, weak communication, distrust of authorities, language barriers, power imbalances, and representational weaknesses. The thesis argues that meaningful Muslim participation cannot be achieved through standardised participation models alone. Instead, it requires context-sensitive and culturally responsive approaches rooted in everyday community life. This study contributes to knowledge by reconceptualising Muslims participation through lived religious-cultural practice, advancing a more meaningful framework for policy and practice, and demonstrating a reflexive methodological approach to researching and engaging Muslims in regeneration.