Urban Regeneration: behind the label

1. Urban Regeneration: behind the label Chris Pickvance Professor of Urban Studies School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research University of Kent

2. Images of regeneration Revitalization/rebirth/restart/regrowth Connotations death/life: bring back life illness/health: restore health decline/growth: end decline/bring growth So: a good thing But life of what, health of what, growth in what?

3. Urban regeneration as a claim made by promoters of new developments Olympic Games Barcelona/Beijing/London: legacy effect is urban regeneration: part of the case advanced Cultural and sports events/museums Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, Glasgow City of Culture Sheffield World Student Game All are industrial cities searching for new industries/images Margate: Turner gallery Inner city redevelopment: new office blocks in place of slum housing Renovation of housing: convert from rented to single family housing.

4. Urban regeneration as part of the new city marketing or urban image building Urban competition as a domain of conflict How new? Who is competing with who? Between nations or between city types? International level: world cities with each other? London, New York, Tokyo World city definition: highest level of concentration of corporate headquarters, hence level of �control� Second order cities with each other: Manchester/Milan/Munich All cities want to be called world cities e.g. Paris, Berlin, Beijing, hence the pressure to avoid a clear definition Emphasis on PR/hype. But images matter to decision-makers 

5. Analytical or justificatory/symbolic Knocking down houses and replacing them by new ones, or urban �regeneration� Urban regeneration has a very strong symbolic element It draws on the ideas of renewal and urban competition It defines itself as something obviously good and therefore discourages critical analysis It is a symbol in shaping elite and public perceptions of change Urban regeneration is part of a justificatory discourse

6. Urban regeneration: a concept with many meanings For the existing population, or for a new population (Displacement of existing population by new one) Urban regeneration as a euphemism for gentrification? Replace old land uses with new Population growth: new population Businesses: more, different kind: science parks, tourism Jobs: more, a different kind (who for? local residents, commuters) Shopping facilities/sports arenas/cultural facilities So there are: many types of urban regeneration having different aims and effects

7. First problem: define what urban regeneration means In an era of governance, the state acts in concert with private sector actors and voluntary/charitable sector actors. But the power position of state is often dominant. Two definitions of urban regeneration Wider definition: policies and initiatives which impact on urban regeneration Narrower definition: policies and initiatives which are labelled urban regeneration Only focussing on the second means accepting government labels as to the effects of policy (regeneration) when the reason for this label may be symbolic. Private sector regeneration in Kent: Whitstable, Folkestone? Was the plan for housing and a science park by Imperial College at Wye rural regeneration?

8. Second problem: separate urban regeneration from all the simultaneous trends and policies Economic context: broader spatial economic trends (international, national, regional, metropolitan, urban), industrial location patterns, trends affecting labour markets and supply of skills Social context: general trends in household formation/ fission, migration, commuting, housing market trends. Policy context: EU policy, UK government regional and urban policies and initiatives, local planning policy, local government and local governance. Government policy relating to urban regeneration

9. Third problem: how to evaluate urban regeneration policy What is policy evaluation? Concepts of policy evaluation: Costs/benefits: costs of what? problems of measuring inputs, what are benefits: output and outcome measures (jobs, city image) Realization of aims: but do policies have aims? Programmes=policies without aims? What are aims? One or many? Constant or changing? Aims and objectives as social constructs. Cause-effect relations: never observable, always a matter of inference Unintended effects Problems subjective and objective measures

10. More on evaluating urban regeneration policy Assumptions about speed of impact: when to evaluate? (Short and long-term effects) How to evaluate: economic, social, political, and psychological effects. Effects on who (residents, displaced residents, tourists), what (firms, rents, property values, employment), where (within the target area, outside the target area) Positive and negative effects

11. Conclusion Urban regeneration is a way of describing or constructing development activities Its concern is to mobilise support for them It is not an attempt to provide a precise understanding Social scientists who want to understand it need to go behind the label of urban regeneration to understand what it conceals.