Participative Urban Renewal? Disability, Community, and Partnership in New Labour's Urban Policy

AbstractReconstructing Britain's cities to accommodate the ‘motor revolution’ was an integral part of urban renewal in the post-war decades. This article shows how opposition to urban motorways had a pivotal role in the retreat from urban modernism in the 1970s. It takes as its case-study Birmingham, Britain's premier motor city, headquarters of the motor industry, and with heavy investment in roads, including the Inner Ring, Britain's first urban motorway completed in 1971. The article traces the collapse of the motor city ideal in Birmingham sparked by controversy over car pollution at Spaghetti Junction, the growth of roads protest, and the implication of the Inner Ring in municipal corruption. In so doing, it identifies the intersection of environmental, political, and economic factors that lay behind thevolte-facein urban policy and compares Birmingham with other cities which witnessed similar revolts. It argues that the 1970s in Britain saw the end of a specific engineering vision of the post-war city, centred on the car and the ‘citizen-driver’.

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Urban policy: estate regeneration

10.1332/policypress/9781447329183.003.0003 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 63-88

Author(s):

Paul Watt

Keyword(s):

Urban Renewal ◽

Urban Policy ◽

Public Funding ◽

New Labour ◽

Health Costs ◽

Regeneration Period ◽

Entrepreneurial City ◽

Private Housing ◽

Primary Focus ◽

The New Deal

This chapter examines the shifting rationales and funding for estate regeneration in Britain with a focus on London. It provides an overview of urban renewal in both its old slum clearance form and new estate regeneration/demolition form. The chapter identifies an early estate regeneration period (1980s-90s) that included substantial public funding. However, from the late 1990s onwards, the private sector was increasingly expected to finance regeneration, while New Labour also emphasised creating mixed-tenure communities. The New Deal for Communities’ programme is discussed within this context. Rationales for comprehensive redevelopment are examined, including the roles played by neighbourhood effects and ‘sink estate’ place myth. The concept of entrepreneurial borough is introduced in relation to London and the entrepreneurial city (Harvey). The penultimate section identifies a key shift between earlier regeneration schemes (e.g. Comprehensive Estates Initiative in Hackney), and contemporary schemes (e.g. Heygate) which are the book’s primary focus. Whereas the former produced mixed-tenure neighbourhoods including limited private housing, 21st century regeneration schemes are estate densification projects which have resulted in distinct mixed-tenure neighbourhoods weighted towards market housing for sale rather than social renting – estate regeneration masquerading as state-led gentrification. The final section examines the financial and health costs of estate demolition.

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Urban renewal in post-industrial districts: the example of Lyon Metropolis

MAZOWSZE Studia Regionalne ◽

10.21858/msr.33.05 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 (33) ◽

pp. 75-94

Author(s):

Lydia Coudroy de Lille ◽

Caroline Bouloc

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Urban Renewal ◽

Public Transportation ◽

Urban Policy ◽

Large Scale ◽

Industrial Districts ◽

Spatial Features ◽

The Social ◽

Post Industrial ◽

Housing Estates

Urban renewal issues in France are very often discussed with reference to the demolition or renovation of large-scale housing estates. But these issues also concern former industrial areas which have their own distinct architectural, social, and economic difficulties. This article aims to present analysis of these differences using the example of two case studies in the Lyon metropolitan area, the second largest agglomeration in France. First, we outline the background of urban policy in France and Lyon in particular, together with mapping “priority geography” of urban policy in Lyon. Our two case studies, La Saulaie and Carré de Soie, are located in suburbs of the metropolis. Through our analysis of the social and spatial features of these two renewal projects which are currently under way, we demonstrate that urban renewal policies in France are multi-layered, and that the case of Lyon illustrates especially robust engagement on the part of local authorities. Tackling poverty and isolation are the priorities in La Saulaie. In Carré de Soie, the challenges are to create a public transportation hub, a new housing market, and to attract companies to this new secondary centre. We also show that urban renewal operations are not limited to the areas defined by the “priority geography”.

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The “New Turkey”? Urban Renewal and Beyond

Sociology of Islam ◽

10.1163/22131418-00403001 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 215-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Seda Demiralp

Keyword(s):

Urban Renewal ◽

Urban Poor ◽

Urban Policy ◽

Left Wing ◽

Government Control ◽

Shared Space ◽

Real Estate Projects ◽

The Government ◽

Historical Sites ◽

And Control

Turkey has been going through a major urban transformation for the past decade as a result of the vigorous urban policy of the akp government. Luxury real estate projects, from gated communities to office towers and shopping malls are mushrooming every day to replace parks, forests, historical sites, beaches, and other shared space. This urban policy has been largely accepted by capitalist groups who prioritized economic growth. Yet, it was criticized by left-wing and environmentalist circles who problematized the displacement of the urban poor, elimination of diversity, and the decline of urban nature as a result. Nevertheless, a critical aspect of this urban renewal policy, namely the dramatic expansion of the boundaries and control of the government at the expense of rival institutions and actors received little attention. This analysis focuses on the akp government’s legislative interventions that affected the schemes of urban development. The study considers how this urban policy combined capitalist strategies with political centralization, which allowed solidification of government control.

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Housing Associations, Private Finance and Risk Avoidance: The Impact on Urban Renewal and Inner Cities

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1068/a271695 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 27 (11) ◽

pp. 1695-1712 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

A D H Crook ◽

M Moroney

Keyword(s):

Inner City ◽

Urban Renewal ◽

Urban Policy ◽

Risk Avoidance ◽

Housing Associations ◽

Private Finance ◽

Inner Cities ◽

The Impact ◽

Housing Renewal

In this paper a case study of the link between housing and urban policy in Britain is presented. The impact that policy on housing associations has had on inner cities and on urban renewal is examined. The impacts of recent changes in government policy about capital and revenue funding (which expose housing associations to risk), on the type and location of housing schemes are also investigated. It is shown that these impacts are inconsistent with the government's inner city and housing renewal objectives.

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