The concept of community is frequently used to describe urban ethnic minority groups. What this term actually means to the community members themselves, however, is often left unexplored. Using interviews undertaken with Italian and Greek-Cypriot residents of Leicester, this article analyses how the notion of community is recognized, understood and projected from within. Key findings include the observation that the discussion of community is framed in very particular ways, both historically and spatially; that the concept of community is used as a metaphor for the expression of wider issues of urban ownership and belonging; and that ultimately the real essence of community lies less in the significance of physical structures and more in a series of fluid social interactions, underpinned by a shared code of cultural norms and values.