What now for urban regeneration?

Abstract

It is against recent experiences of virulent neoliberalism and commodification in UK urban environments that regeneration practitioners and core professionals must confront assumptions about the impact and purpose of recent renewal strategies. Over the last decade, urban landscapes have been reinvigorated through intense design and renewal and a massification of private investment, which have come to characterise a new urbanism. Urban regeneration – the broad banner under which much of this change has occurred – has been encouraged by many localities to the extent that it has been beyond reproach by political and critical analysts. This paper makes use of the current respite in urban renewal, which has been brought about by changes in financial markets, to revisit the policy principles and impacts of existing renewal projects as well as the strategic aspirations of several urban areas. It is hoped that this paper might stimulate debate about the future form of urban regeneration and consideration of the need for changes in policy design.