EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Urban regeneration is in your hands!

Urban regeneration is in your hands!

Introduction

On 30 September the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) launched the conclusions of the Sustainable Urban Regeneration Lecture Series titled " Urban regeneration in your hands!" providing five key recommendations for decision makers.

Description

European citizens need to be involved in the planning and development of their cities. Without community involvement in this process, policymakers and real estate professionals will not be able to deliver successful sustainable urban regeneration, resulting in places where the social and environmental aspects are lost.

This is one of the conclusions of a new RICS research entitled " Urban regeneration is in your hands", presented at the Sustainable Cities & Communities Conference in Geneva on 30 September 2008.

The European quarter in Brussels is a prime example where a lack of dialogue between developers, public authorities and citizens, has lead to a series of chaotic, non-integrated office buildings, that fail to incorporate any long-term vision.

According to the RICS research, the use of a "sustainable cost-benefit analysis" to measure residents’ welfare is essential in assessing whether public spending on urban renewal is justified.

Assessing factors such as quality of housing, accessibility, social interaction, green areas, safety, health, jobs and education are just as important as a good economic return for developers.

With this publication, RICS aimed to set out five key recommendations for policy and decision makers to bear in mind when planning or undertaking sustainable urban regeneration projects, based on the conclusions of the Sustainable Urban Regeneration Lecture Series organised by RICS in Brussels this year.

RICS recommendations can be summarised as follows:

Involve the community in the process of urban planning and development
Develop and regenerate by means of deliberate construction to ensure legitimacy and acceptance
For an overall successful urban regeneration project, an integrated sustainable cost-benefit analysis should be developed and implemented
Markets alone cannot provide for sustainable regeneration; a single, coherent European policy should be developed to offer clear incentives for sustainable urban regeneration
Communication between members of a community and the creation of cohesion are essential in delivering sustainable urban regeneration.

Background information

This paper is part of the FiBRE Series (Findings in Built and Rural Environments) by the RICS.

Methodology

Between March and June 2008, the EU Public Affairs team of RICS organised a series of evening lectures to stimulate a debate based on case studies presented by experts in the field of sustainable urban regeneration:

March 2008 – Pierre Laconte – Brussels: Perspectives on a European Capital
April 2008 – Rob de Wildt – The Social Impact of Urban Regeneration Measures
May 2008 – Chris Brown – The Economics of Urban Regeneration and Public Policy Responses
June 2008 – Stephen Hill & Indy Johar – Sustainable Suburbs

Contact info

RICS EU Public Affairs
Rue Ducale 67
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Phone: +32 2 733 10 19
Fax: +32 2 742 97 48
PublicAffairsBrussels@rics.org
www.rics.org/eu
Sander Scheurwater

Publication date

05/11/2008

Project finished

05/11/2008

Links

Click here to be redirected the the website of RICS EU

Click here to read the FiBRE Series report "Urban regeneration is in your hands!" (PDF, Eng, 3.5 MB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Urban environment

Keywords

Urban renewal