Participation in neighbourhood regeneration: achievements of residents in a Dutch disadvantaged neighbourhood

Despite the fact that resident participation has become central to the Dutch policy discourse on ‘good’ urban planning, it is unclear to what degree new participation mechanisms have created opportunities for residents to actually influence neighbourhood governance and contribute to the improvement of their neighbourhood. This paper explores how residents in the neighbourhood of Transvaal (Amsterdam) have been involved in regeneration since 1999. Although residents have been successful in putting everyday concerns about safety on the agenda and contributed to small-scale improvements of public space, they were unable to contribute to regeneration plans at the scale of the neighbourhood, in particular strategic decisions about state-led gentrification.     

Commercial Gentrification and Entrepreneurial Governance in Shanghai: A Case Study of Taikang Road Creative Cluster

Commercial gentrification—based on the adaptive reuse of historic dwellings for upscale shopping, dining and culture—is emerging as a new model of neighbourhood regeneration in China. Through an analysis of Shanghai's urban restructuring and a case study of Taikang Road Creative Cluster, this article demonstrates that entrepreneurial local government is a key facilitator. Conscious of the synergistic value of restored urban heritage with conspicuous consumption, tourism and even the creative industries, local officials have utilised their urban planning authority to open up urban heritage to a host of gentrifiers including businesses, artists and creative firms. In terms of social outcomes, some local residents have capitalised on inflated property values and gained the opportunity to move out of poverty. Nevertheless, socially exclusive outcomes have also been evident, as commercialisation eroded the living environment of rural migrants and other poor residents.     

The impact of gentrification on ethnic neighbourhoods in Toronto: a case study of little Portugal

Despite extensive literature on the nature and impact of gentrification, there has been little consideration of the effects of gentrification on ethnic neighbourhoods. This study evaluates the negative and positive effects of gentrification on the Portuguese in west central Toronto. Details concerning the settlement patterns of the Portuguese, the characteristics of Portuguese residents and patterns of gentrification in inner-city Toronto were obtained from census data. Evaluations of neighbourhood change and attitudes of the residents towards gentrification were obtained from key informant and focus group interviews. The results suggest considerable ambivalence among the respondents, but most agreed that the long-term viability of Little Portugal as an immigrant reception area with a good supply of low-cost housing is in doubt.     

Towards the experiential meaning of milieu for neighbourhood regeneration: discussions on the institutional designation of milieu-valued areas in Tallinn, Estonia

This article analyses the constructive and strategic character of the milieu discourse in the planning of urban neighbourhoods in Tallinn, Estonia, that has an influence on neighbourhood regeneration. In the institutional designation of milieu areas, the concept of milieu area means the coherent historical housing environment as assessed by planning experts. The article argues that this milieu discourse has strategic aims in terms of preserving architectural housing heritage and acknowledging the traditional understanding of the heritage value. This has influenced, in the collective knowledge, the specific perception of the term ‘milieu’ that will in turn influence the change of a neighbourhood’s social structure and of its placemaking. For example, the concept of milieu area is used by real estate agents for selling and renting apartments in deprived neighbourhoods that are institutionally acknowledged as the neighbourhoods with the milieu value. The study concludes that the expert-based milieu discourse does not consider the socio-spatial neighbourhoods’ everyday life, which is significant in terms of viable neighbourhood regeneration. The reconstruction of the milieu term towards an experiential milieu approach is suggested, as the involvement of residents in neighbourhood regeneration is especially essential in the neighbourhoods of the dispossessed.     

On place-making,participation and public art: the Gorbals,Glasgow

Public art has become part of the rhetoric of regeneration and within this participation has come to play an increasingly significant role. Public art, through its aesthetic and process, is perceived as integral to place-making within regeneration practice, affording cohesion to otherwise disaffected and disillusioned communities and distinctiveness to reformed places. Based on the example of a regenerated inner-city neighbourhood in Glasgow, the Gorbals, this paper questions the role of public participation in the installation of public art. How the regeneration of the neighbourhood unfolded was heavily influenced by new urbanist ideals in which place-making techniques were instrumental in repositioning the perception of the neighbourhood for its residents as well as externally. We argue that within a complex process of regeneration there are limits to how public participation can be built into the process of installing public art, reflecting in turn the different routes through which places become meaningful.     

Cultural entrepreneurs and urban regeneration in Itaewon,Seoul

The paradigm of urban development policy of Seoul has changed from wholesale redevelopment to cultural regeneration since the 2000s. While many cultural regeneration projects are led by the city government and supported by public funds, the presence of cultural entrepreneurs in Itaewon, a camp town in central Seoul, has led cultural regeneration of old neighborhoods through their artistic pursuits combined with entrepreneurial practices. Contrary to the social recognition that revitalization of Itaewon would be difficult without relocating military bases within the area, Itaewon is undergoing a rapid transformation from a camp town to a culturally vibrant neighborhood. In this paper, cultural entrepreneurs refer to artists who pursue not only cultural works but also entrepreneurial practices as business owners. Though many cultural entrepreneurs are regarded as symbolic precursors of gentrification displacing low-classes residents including themselves, cultural entrepreneurs in Itaewon led the revitalization of old neighborhood by reimagining its negative image into culturally vibrant space, identifying themselves as residents, and having self-awareness of becoming precursors of gentrification.     

Toward a Theory of Gentrification A Back to the City Movement by Capital,not People

Consumer sovereignty hypotheses dominate explanations of gentrification but data on the number of suburbanites returning to the city casts doubt on this hypothesis. In fact, gentrification is an expected product of the relatively unhampered operation of the land and housing markets. The economic depreciation of capital invested in nineteenth century inner-city neighborhoods and the simultaneous rise in potential ground rent levels produces the possibility of profitable redevelopment. Although the very apparent social characteristics of deteriorated neighborhoods would discourage redevelopment, the hidden economic characteristics may well be favorable. Whether gentrification is a fundamental restructuring of urban space depends not on where new inhabitants come from but on how much productive capital returns to the area from the suburbs.     

Stakeholder Representations of Gentrification in Amsterdam and Berlin: A Marginal Process?

In recent years, several studies have highlighted how gentrification strategies are imposed under the discursive umbrella of ‘social mixing’. However, most evidence is based on Anglo-Saxon experiences. This paper sets out to expand the geography of gentrification by looking at the representation of processes and policies of gentrification as put forward by key stakeholders in Nord-Neukölln (Berlin) and Indische Buurt (Amsterdam). It shows that in both contexts, stakeholders and policy documents engage with the concept of gentrification, rather than avoid it. Due to public-policy influence and local criticisms, this engagement differs between both cases. In Nord-Neukölln, the term is heavily contested and policy-makers attempt to refute accusations of gentrification, while in the Indische Buurt, the process is explicitly pursued as a positive policy instrument by policy-makers. Different representations within each case are shown to be influenced by the characteristics of in-moving and out-moving residents; the employed timeframe and the perceived influence of institutions on urban regeneration.     

欧美城市再生理论与实践的演变及启示

通过对欧美国家内城复兴政策的动因、演变历程及其主要经验教训的梳理,揭示出城市再生与城市更新相互之间的演变关系;从比较的视角．探讨了城市再生和传统城市更新在理论基础、方法。内容等方面的区别．试图为新形势下中国的城市更新研究和城市政策提供理论参考。     

The New Right and Neighbourhood Regeneration

This paper seeks to add to an understanding of the impact and significance of the New Right through an evaluation of neighbourhood regeneration policy in England during the 1980s and 1990s. This area of public policy has been seemingly been little researched being passed over for more high profile urban policy initiatives such as Enterprise Zones and Urban Development Corporations. Such studies largely demonstrate a translation of broad New Right principles into practice. Recently, however, attention has begun to turn to less obvious approaches and a more sensitive and contradictory image has developed. Far from consistency and coherence, evidence of actual impact upon the ground is beginning to point to a more eclectic situation. While there may have been broad principles that could be identified with the Thatcher and Major Governments throughout the 1980s and 1990s, such abstract tenets allowed significant room for evolution and pragmatism, which may, in part, help explain the varied impact of many initiatives. Examination of neighbourhood regeneration policies throughout this period demonstrates an evolution of initiatives and ideas that were influenced by a number of factors. Two stand out in particular. First, a temporal dimension: policy and thinking evolved due to external influences (such as opposition from local authorities and tenants) and the impact of policy itself. Second, a spatial dimension: policy outcome varied in different places. The implications of this are that a more open and less reductionist perspective on the New Right needs to be taken and that studies of the period should highlight a more diverse and contextualised understanding.     

Photographic modern architecture: inside ‘the new deep’

This paper provides an architectural reflection on Titanic Quarter, a docklands urban regeneration scheme located in the east of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated within Queen's Island, historic home of Belfast's shipbuilding industry and birthplace of the ship, ‘Titanic’, this development utilises and exploits cultural associations with the titular ship, reflected in its iconographical employment of architecture and space. Notwithstanding its status as the endeavour of private enterprise, the Titanic Quarter has been wholeheartedly embraced by urban policy makers as a catalyst for the regeneration of an adjacent and deprived inner-city ward known as the Inner-East. This convergence of neo-liberal enterprise and public policy aspirations around the architectural iconography of the Titanic brand benchmarks Titanic Quarter as an important illustration of the current regeneration discourse in post-conflict Belfast. The essay investigates the capacity of Titanic Quarter to deliver inner-city regeneration. The discussion is constructed around three interrelated arguments: the particularly pragmatic neo-liberal regeneration model itself; the cultural positioning of Titanic Quarter; and the architectural programme of the development. The paper concludes by reflecting on the regeneration implications for both Titanic Quarter and the Inner-East of Belfast. It highlights the view that Titanic Quarter is ultimately responsive to commercial enterprise and reliant on iconographical associations to define space. Such characteristics significantly challenge its capacity to facilitate renewal in the Inner-East.     

Residential satisfaction of elderly in the city centre: The case of revitalizing neighbourhoods in Prague

While the historical cores of the post-socialist cities of Central and Eastern Europe are adapting to the invasion of tourism and profitable companies, dynamic regeneration is altering the character of the inner-city neighbourhoods from working class peripheries to modern multi-functional urban sub-centres. Changing residential environments, landscapes and functions affect the daily lives and residential satisfaction of the local population, and especially of the low-income and elderly people facing mobility restrictions. This research evaluates the residential satisfaction of the elderly in two Prague city centre neighbourhoods that experienced dramatic changes in their residential environment during the post-socialist transition: the historical core, which has been exposed to massive touristification and commercialization, and a former working class neighbourhood that has been experiencing rapid regeneration. The local accessibility of services, public spaces, housing and social support was examined through a questionnaire survey. Contrary to our expectations based on the existing literature review, the results show that, despite the rapid revitalization processes, the elderly are fairly satisfied with their residential environment in both neighbourhood types.     

Housing Market Renewal in Liverpool: Locating the Gentrification Debate in History,Context and Evidence

This paper places the Housing Market Renewal programme in Liverpool in its historical context, highlighting a mismatch between the supply and demand for housing which has existed for four decades. This disequilibrium produced an environment where successive waves of neighbourhood abandonment occurred from the late 1970s despite significant public policy interventions. The implementation of the Housing Market Renewal programme has stimulated a debate about the extent to which the public sector interventions are leading to the gentrification of poor neighbourhoods. The paper finds that there is no evidence of gentrification in older neighbourhoods, however, inflows of capital rather than middle-class residents have altered the physical development of the city to an extent that the housing choices of all income groups have been affected. The paper concludes that critical gentrification research should take account of historical development and wider housing market change to remain relevant to the debate about the changing social and economic structure of cities.     

Living through gentrification: subjective experiences of local,non-gentrifying residents in Leith,Edinburgh

The process of gentrification is often seen as having winners and losers; the debate frequently is centred on the gentrifiers and those being displaced by them. However, the process appears to be more complex, and in many gentrifying neighbourhoods, there are residents who do not fit into these categories. This paper explores the subjective experiences of those who have lived through the process of gentrification. By using interviews with local residents in a gentrifying neighbourhood in Edinburgh, Scotland, a new viewpoint has been uncovered that found residents who were simultaneously embracing of and cautious about the rapid changes taking place in their gentrifying community. This paper examines three elements: housing, amenities and social interactions, and how local residents, who are not incoming gentrifiers, perceive these changes in their neighbourhood. While many residents welcomed some of the changes, there also appeared to be a ‘not for us’ sentiment. This research sheds new light on an important element of the population involved in the process, and suggests that gentrification is more complex and nuanced than often portrayed.     

Privatizing public housing redevelopment: Grassroots resistance,co-operation and devastation in three Dublin neighbourhoods

This article examines variations in residents' responses to proposals to redevelop three public housing neighbourhoods in Dublin using Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and the outcomes their resistance achieved. It investigates the important role that structures of participation and representation and local social cohesion play in developing effective resident resistance to displacement and gentrification through regeneration. In two of these neighbourhoods community representative structures were strong and although one community co-operated with the PPP plans and the other opposed them, both were broadly successful in achieving their campaign objectives. Community structures in the third neighbourhood were weak however and the imposition of PPP redevelopment devastated this community which is now almost entirely vacant. This article provides some important insights for the literature on grassroots resistance to urban redevelopment, welfare state restructuring and public housing redevelopment. It reveals that, despite their lack of power, residents' resistance can significantly influence public housing redevelopment strategies particularly where community representative structures are strong. However for vulnerable communities, where representative structures are weak, the over emphasis on poverty de-concentration and refurbishing the built environment in public housing redevelopment policy can have devastating consequences. Thus, it concludes that the rationale for grass roots resistance to redevelopment is centred upon a strong place attachment, but also opposition to the privatization of public housing and the desire for poverty to be addressed in an holistic manner.     

Evaluating Tenure Mix Interventions: A Case Study from Sydney,Australia

Policies of tenure mix, by removing concentrations of social housing or through the application of inclusionary zoning-type powers to new developments, are being pursued throughout Australia and in the USA, the UK and New Zealand. Implementing this tenure mix policy agenda requires significant intervention into urban areas that currently have concentrations of social housing, through programmes of regeneration or renewal. Despite this policy agenda, research on the benefits of tenure mix has produced inconclusive evidence, both in Australia and internationally. The paper reports on research undertaken in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which tests a method of evaluating tenure mix policy. The exploratory method uses dwelling price data as a proxy for measuring amenity or ‘neighbourhood quality’ changes from tenure mix interventions.     

Urban livability in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods: The experience of the German program “socially integrative city”

This paper asks how the livability of socially disadvantaged urban neighborhoods can be improved with the help of publicly funded area-based urban regeneration. It builds on the history of area-based regeneration policies in Germany aiming at upgrading and resolving urban problems at the neighborhood level. Its main argument is as follows. First, the fate of conventional physical upgrading policies focusing on the livability of deprived urban areas depends on the development environment. While successful upgrading sometimes makes inner-city neighborhoods so attractive that they run into a trend towards gentrification and displacement of the urban poor, the stabilization of less privileged areas cannot always be guaranteed. Second, alternative approaches are needed, linking limited physical upgrading with socially oriented policies, building on strategies like neighborhood management and empowerment. Third, they can make a substantial contribution to stabilizing deprived neighborhoods, thereby improving the general living conditions and the opportunities of the urban poor. However, they require at least some permanent intervention. Thus, they transcend the logic of area-based regeneration normally limited to restoring faith into the private real estate market and thereby directing inward investment into them that improves the quality of the physical environment. Fourth, they are hardly able to overcome significant negative stigmatization in cities that are severely hit by economic downturn and population decline. This is especially true when they act as arrival areas for consecutive waves of migrants, making it necessary to redefine the role of those areas in cities and accepting their high concentration of urban problems as a starting point for different area-based policies dealing with them. The key empirical background of the paper is the German system of urban development grants and an evaluation of the so-called program of “socially integrative city”.     

遗产保护:城市可持续发展的平衡之道——以法国雷恩市为例

遗产保护的概念在法国雷恩市的发展实践中得到了两方面的扩展,一方面以宏观的视角将城市区域作为整体的空间遗产,另一方面以历史的视角融合了传统遗产与当代的建设。在此基础上,遗产保护政策与交通、住房、公共设施和公共空间等城市空间政策有效融合,促进了雷恩城市的快速发展。当前,遗产保护更进一步在城市可持续发展的四项战略对策中,即城市发展的公共控制、城市发展的平衡控制、城市中心的崭新形象和城市公民的信息沟通方面,都发挥了深远的影响。总体上,遗产保护成为了平衡各项城市空间政策、实现城市可持续发展战略框架的核心工具。     

The last round in restructuring the city: Urban regeneration becomes a state policy of disaster prevention in Turkey

In Turkey, urban regeneration mirrors a shift towards neoliberal urban policies based on economic strategy-making. The measures in the name of “regeneration for liveable cities” are rapidly transforming the appearance of inner-city areas with great revenue-generating potential. The boundaries of legitimization are described in areas where the process of depression is visible and the social acceptability of the residential population decreases, and at present are under the risk of disasters, mostly in squatter housing areas and dilapidated historical centers. Legal regulations have been reformulating this system since the 1980s so that applications can be supported effortlessly and facilitated through government assistance.This study discusses the final legal regulation, namely Law No. 6306, which is the Law on the Regeneration of Areas Under the Risk of Disasters. The study leans on the hypothesis that: This law has opened a new gateway for a fast and organized system of urban regeneration. Urban regeneration has gained a new momentum with the inclusion of risk identification in a country under the risk of earthquakes. The study methodology begins with a literature review concerning urban regeneration, development of urban regeneration in Turkey, and disaster risk. Second, legal regulations in favor of urban regeneration and Cabinet decisions on risk areas in Turkey are critically examined. Finally, areas that are designated to be under the risk of disasters in Ankara are analyzed based on earthquake risk identification, urban development, and urban policy strategies in favor of regeneration.The findings of the study substantiate the hypothesis. Regeneration is now increasing the resilience of societies to natural disasters. However, the development of the criteria of disaster risk as a reason for regeneration is not mature enough to be a part of a mitigation strategy and an integrated planning approach. While all risk areas are in deprived or squatter housing areas, risk assessment is not so difficult in terms of physical vulnerability. Economic and social vulnerabilities are out of the scope, and there is no regeneration perspective. Thus, the interventions that are performed with this law produce the same results, that is, a single recipe of regeneration which is poorly integrated into a planned urban development strategy. Gentrification is still the unpronounced, yet expected, result.     

Paradox between neoliberal urban redevelopment,heritage conservation,and community needs: Case study of a historic neighbourhood in Tianjin,China

Today, China's inner-city redevelopment has evolved into the neoliberalism phase, which is characterized by market orientation, privatization, commodification, and short-term returns; this phase generally involves massive demolition and eviction, resulting in serious conflicts between land-based economic growth, heritage conservation, and social justice. The local community is susceptible to social, cultural, and economic impacts of redevelopment, as well as heritage conservation activities. Thereby, the perspectives of residents on these two components of the urban development agenda help to re-examine the demolition–conservation controversy from the perspective of social well-being. Based on an in-progress case in Tianjin, this study clarifies the multi-faceted paradox posed by the demolition–conservation dichotomy at the locality level. Further, the study performs an ex-ante investigation on the needs, concerns, and attitudes of the local community and dissects related contradictions with the local government's rationale for redevelopment, which is a prerequisite for facilitating responsive and democratic urban planning.