Community cohesion

Community cohesion is what must happen in all communities to enable different groups of people to get on well together. A key contributor to community cohesion is integration which is what must happen to enable new residents and existing residents to adjust to one another.

An integrated and cohesive community is based on three foundations:

• People from different backgrounds having similar life opportunities.
• People knowing their rights and responsibilities.
• People trusting one another and trusting local institutions to act fairly.

And three ways of living together:

• A shared future vision and sense of belonging.
• A focus on what new and existing communities have in common, alongside a recognition of the value of diversity.
• Strong and positive relationships between people from different backgrounds.

In simple terms when we talk about community cohesion in Salford we mean feeling comfortable and positive about living and working alongside your neighbours.

Community cohesion cannot be achieved or aspired to if any group of people are excluded. In Salford, we want to take a 'whole community' approach, recognising that community cohesion is about all groups including black and minority ethnic people, people of different faiths and cultures, young and older people, disabled people, people living with mental health problems, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Everyone has a role to play in making Salford a more cohesive city.

This page was last updated on 30 March 2011