ASIAN communities in Britain are being increasingly ghettoised in a trend that sets back hopes of assimilation by years, an academic said yesterday.

The proportion of Asians living in ethnic enclaves has increased by 30 per cent in ten years and will continue rising. More now live in isolation from the indigenous white population than ever before, Mike Poulsen told the Royal Geographical Society conference in London.

He said that ghettoisation of Asian groups in deprived areas will lead to long-term social problems unless tackled quickly. He stopped short of linking the trend to feelings of alienation said to have contributed to the July 7 suicide bombings in London but he urged government action to improve ethnic assimilation.

Dr Poulsen, of Macquarie University in Sydney, said that a massive rise in ghettoisation since 1991 has meant that some areas of Britain now rival US cities for segregation levels.

Britain now has eight cities in the top 100 most ghettoised cities. In 1991 Britain had only one city, Leicester, in that list. “They are coming into the major league of segregation,” Dr Poulson said.

Leicester, Birmingham and Bradford are the most ghetto-ised cities in Britain, with more than a third of the population living in ethnic enclaves.

London, Blackburn, Oldham, Slough and Luton are the five others listed in the top 100. Of 16 cities or towns that have significant numbers of Asians, all have seen ethnic groups become more polarised since 1991.

Dr Poulsen, a senior lecturer in geography, said of the polarised communities: “They are becoming a major factor in British society. The proportion living in enclaves has massively increased. Some of these people are just not going to assimilate in the way they were previously expected to do. The danger is the assimilation process is so slow that for many it’s just not possible.”

The shift in the Indian population was, he said, particularly marked. Analysis of the 1991 census showed that most Indian immigrants lived in areas “dominated by their white hosts”. In the 2001 census the position had been reversed, with the majority living in ethnic enclaves. Conversely, white communities have become more ethnically mixed, at least in areas where there is a degree of “social exclusivity”.

He said that the main cause of enclaves is deprivation, and that to increase assimilation the Government would have to ensure that ethnic groups were given better housing, schools and improved job prospects.

So far, he said, the Government had looked at the problem of ethnic isolation with a blanket approach. Bengalis in London are stuck in enclaves, while in Manchester they mix with other ethnic groups, so ministers need to have policies tailored to individual areas.

While Asian groups become more ghettoised, there is no such trend for Afro-Caribbean populations. The Commission for Racial Equality said that the research highlighted the need for greater efforts to encourage assimilation and integration.

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