Raising expectations or dashing hopes?: Well-being and participation in disadvantaged areas

The idea of ‘well-being’ has emerged as a central lens through which to understand people and places in social policy terms. At the same time, ‘participation’ has become central in debates and practices about community life in general and neighbourhood renewal in particular. This article explores the relationship between well-being and participation in disadvantaged areas. Drawing on primary research in two New Deal for Communities (NDC) areas in the United Kingdom, I explore how local people's expectations of participation in NDC are disappointed and how that disappointment may pose a key risk to well-being. I propose, therefore, that experiences of participation in areas of neighbourhood renewal threaten levels of well-being in the very disadvantaged areas where it is most needed.