EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - The Credit Crunch and Regeneration: Impact and Implications

The Credit Crunch and Regeneration: Impact and Implications

Introduction

The report 'The Credit Crunch and Regeneration: Impact and Implications' was published for the UK Department for Communities & Local Government. It explores the effects of the economic crisis on regeneration activities in England. It aims to find out what has happened to different places, projects and people, what might happen next and what the key implications are for parties involved in regeneration. Even though this report focuses on England, it provides interesting insights for cities in other countries as well.

Description

This report answers the following questions:

What has happened so far?

How have the credit crunch and economic downturn affected different places, projects and people?
What actions have different organisations taken to cope with the credit crunch and how successful were these?

What might happen next?

3. Are there any longer term opportunities as well as immediate
challanges to regeneration?

4. Are any projects, places and people at a greater risk than others?

Who should do what about it?

     5. Who, including government, should do what better or
         differently to reduce risk and stimulate regeneration in the
         future?

Conclusions

The impact of the credit crunch is mixed. It is better in some places and some sectors than in others. There is agreement that there has been a flight from risk and a flight to quality. This means that economically and financially marginal places, projects, partners and people are most affected. The cities with more robust economies and more
entrepreneurial leadership will weather the storm better than others. Small and medium towns that are dependent on single declining economic sectors will be badly hit. In terms of sectors, housing has been most badly hit. This especially applies to city centre apartments, buy-to-let and volume house builders.

Partners are trying a variety of coping strategies, although it is too soon to tell whether they are working. Generally the local public sector is doing everything to boost public sector spending and activities.

There is some agreement that the credit crunch has brought some benefits, even if they do not outweigh the costs. It allows review of some of the housing policies that were being undertaken in cities, especially city centre apartments. It will allow a focus on long-term place making rather than simply house building. It will allow the public sector to buy land cheaper. It will allow and encourage the public sector to get into longer term relationships with committed long-term developers. It will allow the public sector to provide the necessary physical and community infrastructure that would underpin sustainable regeneration. But these benefits are medium term whereas the costs are immediate.

Contact info

Department for Communities and Local Government
London
United Kingdom
Phone: +44-20 7944 4400
contactus@communities.gov.uk
http://www.communities.gov.uk/

Publication date

/01/2009

Researcher

Michael Parkinson, Michael Ball, Neil Blake & Tony Key

Links

Visit the website of the Department for Communities and Local Government

Download the report 'The Credit Crunch and Regeneration: Impacts and Implications' (PDF, Eng, 1.12 MB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Urban environment

Keywords

Urban renewal

Institutional characteristics
National Government