URBAN II – the Urban Community Initiative

1. Ex post evaluation URBAN II – the Urban Community Initiative Daniel Mouqué Evaluation Unit, DG REGIO

2. What was URBAN II? • Urban « neighbourhoods in crisis » • 70 programmes, 14 MSs, 2.2 million people • €754m ERDF, €1.6bn total • 2001-2006 The « URBAN method » • Integrated approach: economic, social and physical regeneration • Strong local partnership

3. The evaluation • Review of 70 programmes (documents, indicators, data, programme manager interviews) • 15 indepth case studies (representative sample) • Evaluation of URBACT I • 3 scientific experts (balanced panel) • >18 months work

4. Outputs & results In the 3 slides that follow, I present: • physical regeneration: reversing urban decay • building the local economy • tackling social exclusion Presented as separate themes, but strong integration at both project and programme level

5. Physical regeneration & reversing urban decay • 372 restoration projects (urban heritage) • 2,314,000 m² of buildings converted and renovated (community centres, museums, libraries, creches) • A further 557,115 m² developed for social, sports, education and health uses • 3,238,000 m² of new green space • 80 km of cycle and footpaths plus 11,614 m² of renovated surfaces for cyclists and pedestrians

6. Building the local economy • 108,000 individuals trained • 6,000 small/micro-businesses and new entrepreneurs supported: • incubators • business services • microfinance • 2,000 jobs created Keyword: micro. Data and case studies: local economy largely follows broader economy (parent city, region)

7. Tackling social exclusion • Of the 108,000 people trained, > ½ from vulnerable groups (helped to overcome illiteracy, continue education, enter labour market for 1st time) • 8/15 case studies found impacts from new social services and resources (eg centres offering information, advice and other support to residents) • 247 projects to reduce local crime, delivered in collaboration with community groups : • street wardens • CCTV, landscaping and street lighting

8. Key success factor: local partnership Successful projects: local ownership… …Unsuccessful projects: imposed from above • 80% of programmes led by the local authority • > 80% of partnerships characterised as inclusive (community groups, private sector, employment agencies, training providers, development agencies, law enforcement, health professionals) • The voluntary sector led some 10% of projects, key partner in implementation of many more

9. But crucial role for larger players Larger partners (agencies, city, region, MS): • Provide expertise and help build capacity of local players • 593 initiatives. In one (Burnley, UK), 134 people into community management. • Sustainability: 60 % of projects continue after URBAN II – support of a larger partner usually key • Economic framework conditions: city & region exert strong influence on URBAN II areas EU helped build capacity through URBACT: • But more personal knowledge, less documents

10. Better planning, monitoring and evaluation • Ambitious start, planning 4120 indicators(= 59/programme) … for ERDF of €11m/prog! • … but 35% of indicators not collected • Intervention logic unclear in a few cases… • … and relevant indicators often missed (eg 31 progs counted training places, only 1 prog qualifications gained) => Clear intervention logic, few (but relevant) indicators, collected consistently

11. Conclusions • URBAN II areas: clear improvement (13½/15 case studies) • But limits in scale and scope (eg broader economy). « Local development for local issues ». • Key success factor: local partnership, ownership • But clear role for larger players in lending expertise, building capacity, project sustainability • Clear intervention logic: few goals, measure progress