SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This article focuses on the presence of Latin American businesses in Elephant & Castle (E&C), a deprived area in the centre of London that is undergoing an ambitious program of urban redevelopment that will see the area developed into the new ‘thriving quarter of Central London’. The purpose of this article is to uncover the circumstances under which Latin American retailers re-negotiate their place in E&C and to document and understand their involvement and engagement with the local government. The meaning of places, scales of locality and local identity are central to the argument that Elephant and Castle’s location is an asset to the vision of London as a global city with desirable city dwelling near global financial and commercial districts. The article interrogates attempts to raise Elephant and Castle’s position within the urban hierarchy of London and considers the impact of these changes for Latin American retailers.