Place-making and the Finsbury/Pennington migrant hostel: capturing 45 years of refugee and migrant heritage

Abstract

This chapter uses the establishment of the Pennington Gardens Reserve on the site of the former Finsbury/Pennington migrant hostel as a case study to explore some of the critical factors that arise when planning and building heritage sites associated with migrant history. We consider how a public space was constructed using explicit place-making approaches to construct a functional, inclusive, and culturally aware space, which captures and communicates the diasporic history of the place. We also explore some of the difficulties associated with place-making approaches and potential implications for other initiatives associated with migrant and multicultural heritage sites.