RE-MAKING BYKER AFTER THE TABULA RASA: “EVERYDAY GEOGRAPHIES OF CARE” ALONG AND ACROSS SHIELDS ROAD, IN NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE

This article examines Shields Road in Newcastle as a spatial paradigm of the convergence between gentrification processes driven by neoliberal market forces and the informal geographies of everyday care enacted by the residents of Byker. Although in the 1970s, after the clearance of slums, only a few displaced families returned to live in Byker, we argue that fifty years after Erskine's project, Byker is a thriving community that shares strong roots and steadfastly resists the substantial gentrification occurring in the surrounding area.