Regenerating Deprived Urban Areas

In the face of continuing challenges of urban decline, an increasing local policy activism can be observed in a number of European countries. The implementation of area-based initiatives (ABIs) for deprived urban areas, such as The ‘New Deal for Communities’ in England and the ‘Social City Programme’ in Germany, are examples of these New Localism(s). ABIs can be seen as test-beds for new forms of urban governance seeking to foster an active participation of residents and the Voluntary Sector. Based upon a comparative research in two cities, Bristol in England and Duisburg in Germany, this book is the first to cross-nationally compare the impacts of ABIs in two deprived urban areas in England and Germany. It evaluates the impacts of these New Localism(s) on organisations and development actors at the neighbourhood level. Using a rich data-set and applying a hands-on methodology it applies a mixed method approach to help the reader with a wider spectrum of illustrations and is aimed at those studying and working in the field of urban regeneration and planning.

This publication is a joint project between the Department of Management in the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology, and the School of Architecture at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, which seeks to reflect on alternative housing production models that have arisen in response to social, economic and political changes in both contexts. Although the experiences have followed different paths and therefore, have had different results, they share a common goal: the search for alternative housing models that are collaborative, affordable and have the potential for regenerating urban neighborhoods. The first milestone of the cooperation between both institutions was an academic experience in a workshop format carried out at Santiago in November 2017. The workshop titled: “Imagining housing renewal in deprived areas” became an opportunity to discuss among scholars, students, civil society organizations, and the community. As a result of this debate, a number of topics and questions were identified, which form the basis of the conceptual framework of this publication. Through a compendium of short articles, this book presents an academic debate regarding collaborative housing processes in urban regeneration, stemming both from local experiences and from the identification of north-south and south-north perspectives.

Exploring the streets of London, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh or Cardiff, one cannot help but notice the striking transformations taking place in the urban landscapes. This prominent regeneration of urban areas in the UK and around the world has become an increasingly important issue amongst governments and populations. The growing concern has been a result of the impacts of the decline of cities since the collapse of manufacturing industries and the heightening of global competition. A range of innovative approaches to tackle urban problems have been taken over many decades to attempt to regenerate the fortunes of towns and cities across the UK. This text provides an accessible, yet critical, synthesis of urban regeneration in the UK incorporating key policies, approaches, issues and debates. The central objective of the book is to place the historical and contemporary regeneration agenda into context. Section one sets up the conceptual and policy framework for urban regeneration in the UK. SectiontTwo traces policies that have been adopted by central government to influence the social, economic and physical development of cities, including early municipal interventions in the late nineteenth century, community-focused urban policies of the late 1960s, entrepreneurial property-led regeneration of the 1980s and competition for urban funds in the 1990s. The penultimate section illustrates the key thematic policies and strategies that have been pursued by cities themselves, focusing particularly on improving economic competitiveness and tackling social disadvantage. These approaches are contextualized by discussions covering, for example, urban competitiveness policies and the focus on sustainable urban regeneration. The final section summarizes key issues and debates facing urban regeneration, and speculates upon future directions. Urban Regeneration in the UK blends the approaches taken by central government programmes and cities themselves in the regeneration process. The latest ideas and examples from across disciplines and across the UK’s urban areas are illustrated. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis that will fill a significant gap in the current literature on regeneration and will be a tool for students as well as a seminal read for practitioners and researchers.

In the past decade, urban regeneration policy makers and practitioners have faced a number of difficult challenges, such as sustainability, budgetary constraints, demands for community involvement and rapid urbanization in the Global South. Urban regeneration remains a high profile and important field of government-led intervention, and policy and practice continue to adapt to the fresh challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, as well as confronting long standing intractable urban problems and dilemmas. This Companion provides cutting edge critical review and synthesis of recent conceptual, policy and practical developments within the field. With contributions from 70 international experts within the field, it explores the meaning of ‘urban regeneration’ in differing national contexts, asking questions and providing informed discussion and analyses to illuminate how an apparently disparate field of research, policy and practice can be rendered coherent, drawing out common themes and significant differences. The Companion is divided into six sections, exploring: globalization and neo-liberal perspectives on urban regeneration; emerging reconceptualizations of regeneration; public infrastructure and public space; housing and cosmopolitan communities; community centred regeneration; and culture-led regeneration. The concluding chapter considers the future of urban regeneration and proposes a nine-point research agenda. This Companion assembles a diversity of approaches and insights in one comprehensive volume to provide a state of the art review of the field. It is a valuable resource for both advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in Urban Planning, Built Environment, Urban Studies and Urban Regeneration, as well as academics, practitioners and politicians.

This theoretically rooted and research-based book provides insights on the JESSICA funding model which – unlike the traditional non-repayable aid – focuses on supporting sustainable urban development projects in a repayable and recyclable way. Looking through the lens of the JESSICA financial engineering mechanism used in urban transformation, it examines the functioning and performance thereof and formulates policy recommendations for the future. The aim of this volume is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the JESSICA sustainable funding model by exploring its repayable assistance mechanism to support sustainable urban development projects. The authors make several noteworthy contributions to the literature on EU cohesion policy and shed light on the use of the repayable instruments within public interventions, while providing, for the first time, a critical analysis of the JESSICA sustainable funding model from the holistic perspective which is especially relevant for supporting sustainable urban development. Financial Engineering in Sustainable Funding of Urban Development in the EU provides policy-significant findings that are important for EU cohesion policy in the field of repayable assistance to be reinvested in the long term in urban and regional transformation.

Entrepreneurship and urban regeneration policy have traditionally been treated as separate fields. This volume is one of the first to focus explicitly on the links between the two, examining how policy can help regenerate inner cities and other areas of urban distress.

Striking transformations are taking place in the urban landscape. The regeneration of urban areas in the UK and around the world has become an increasingly important issue amongst governments and populations since the global economic downturn. This textbook provides an accessible and critical synthesis of urban regeneration in the UK, analyzing key policies, approaches, issues and debates. It places the historical and contemporary regeneration agenda in context. The second edition has been extensively revised and updated to incorporate advances in literature, policy and case study examples, as well as giving greater discussion to the New Labour period of urban policy, and the urban agenda and regeneration policies of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government elected in 2010. The book is divided into five sections, with Section I establishing the conceptual and political framework for urban regeneration in the UK. Section II traces policies that have been adopted by central government to influence the social, economic and physical development of cities, including early town and country and housing initiatives, community-focused urban policies of the late 1960s, entrepreneurial property-led regeneration of the 1980s, competition for urban funds in the 1990s, urban renaissance and neighborhood renewal policies of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and new approaches since 2010 which have sought to stimulate enterprise and embrace localism in an age of austerity resulting from the global economic downturn. Section III illustrates the key thematic policies and strategies that have been pursued by cities themselves, focusing particularly on improving economic competitiveness, tackling social disadvantage and promoting sustainable urban regeneration. Section IV summarizes key issues and debates facing urban regeneration in the early 2010s, and speculates upon future directions in an era of economic and political uncertainty. Urban Regeneration in the UK combines the approaches taken by central government and cities themselves to regenerate urban areas, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of the field. Each chapter also contains case studies, study questions, suggested further reading and websites, making this an essential resource for undergraduate students interested in Urban Studies, Geography, Planning and the Built Environment.

The concept of social innovation offers an alternative perspective on development and territorial transformation, one which foregrounds innovation in social relations. This volume presents a broad-ranging and insightful exploration of social innovation and how it can affect life, society and economy, especially within local communities. It addresses key questions about the nature of social innovation as a process and a strategy and explores what opportunities may exist, or may be generated, for social innovation to nourish human development. It puts forward alternative development options which variously highlight solidarity, co-operation, cultural-artistic endeavour and diversity. In doing so, this book offers a provocative response to the predominant neoliberal economic vision of spatial, economic and social change.