Community spirit |
Article first published August 2000 |
A Hulme estate has become the UK's first virtual online community. Kate Zamir reports
The
Bentley House estate is one of the few remaining parts of Hulme, Manchester,
not to have undergone regeneration through demolition and new build.
Six blocks of three storeys high flats remain, with 248 homes in total. They
were built around 1950 of red brick - hence the local name of 'Redbricks'.
The average population of the estate has remained constant, but the impetus
for retaining community spirit had been lost. Supportive structures have not
been maintained and the estate has fallen into disrepair. Many residents had
suffered from a poverty of expectations, particularly with regard to opportunities
to assist in change.
Eighteen months ago, a social and technological experiment began on the estate.
There were no announcements, no media coverage, just the quiet measured pulse
of a community regenerating from the only possible starting point - within.
The technical face of Redbricks, the first virtual online community in the UK,
is a network of 70 homes linked by computers to the internet, using and sharing
an internally designed and developed intranet.
A small group of visionaries, mainly with non-technical backgrounds, dreamed
of simply stopping the erosion of deprivation. Redbricks was their home and
neighbourhood so they had most to gain from the regeneration, or to lose through
continuing degeneration. Redbricks Online was one of the innovations, but other
more familiar mechanisms were also established: LETSystems, recycling and a
Permaculture group.
Some of the original group claim Redbricks Online is a happy accident, the right
people, in the right place, at the right time. There was no major planning exercise
involving the whole community - conversations in the local pub were considered
initial consultation. The result is an exceptional example of social entrepreneurs
committing hundreds of unpaid hours and some of their own income to prove the
viability of the project.
The community on the estate owns Redbricks Online. They are not a constituted
body; there are no committees or bank accounts; no public funding has been used
to finance Redbricks Online; no outputs were promised; and there were no restrictions
imposed by funding agreements.
No one knocked on doors asking people to come on line, no leaflets were distributed,
and there were no public meetings. The physical and social network spread as
individuals encouraged family, friends and neighbours to share something they
valued. Endorsement by word of mouth worked just fine.
Computers and connection cables have been installed without any public grants,
while nearly all the residents are unemployed or on low incomes. A small charge
of £12 per month is paid for unlimited internet use.
As many of the computers have been recovered for reuse, the total price is within
everyone's reach at about £100 each. The more participants use the service,
the more cost effective it becomes to share the cost of the lease line.
A few residents had computer or internet experience, a few others had attended
related courses. New users can generally find a neighbour to advise them.
Hulme is infamous as an area of violent crime, but like all reputations, part
of this is earned and some is exaggerated. The intranet has a 'shout' mechanism,
which sends a warning to everyone. Redbricks Online is building the first virtual
neighbourhood watch with plans to have a number of cameras covering shared walkway
areas. These will provide a simple message to anyone intent on crime: 'There
are a number of online residents with cameras, some of them may be looking at
their computer screens right now - how lucky do you feel today?'
From the beginning, the initiators felt that if the Redbricks experiment was
to mean anything, it must have a practical application and be reproduced elsewhere.
Introducing the technology without the social infrastructure development would
be as unwise as throwing vast sums of regeneration money into an area without
taking the community on board.
Redbricks has established a development agency, OverMet, to help other areas
to achieve success. OverMet offers a complete development package, from the
initial introduction of cables, hardware, and software, to engaging local residents
in the design and implementation.
Kate Zamir is the development adviser at Redbricks,
Katez@redbricks.org.uk, OverMet Ltd, tel: 0161 236 7242
P.S.: Thanks to British doctors and businessmen for help in a difficult moments the authors website.