EUKN - United Kingdom - Large Housing Estates: Policies and practices

Large Housing Estates: Policies and practices

Introduction

In England there is an unresolved debate about the clients and beneficiaries of regeneration programmes. Is regeneration about place or people? If it is about place, is it merely about protecting the fixed investment of statutory organisations (such as schools and housing) and, to a lesser extent, other property owners? If regeneration is about people, are the intended clients existing residents (as in Bow HAT) or potential future residents (as in the Central estates)? If it is a case of the latter, is this implicitly a process of unchecked gentrification at the expense of the former?

Description

What is the philosophy behind the different existing policies with regard to large-scale housing estates in different cities? What are the main aims? What are the main activities included in policies and what is the balance between these activities? How are these policies organised? Who participates in the policy and who has decided about this participation? Can the policy be seen as a top-down or as a bottom-up process? What are the advantages and the disadvantages of these approaches? Has the policy, the way that it is organised and the way that it is perceived by residents and others changed over the time period that it has been in place?

EU involvement

EU legislation and/or funding

Conclusions

Since the election of the Labour government in 1997, the philosophy behind estate regeneration in England has moved towards seeking joined up approaches and solutions. As central government has identified a wide range of problems facing these estates, it has sought to involve all service providers in delivering a coordinated response to often acute economic, social and physical needs. However, the reality paints a different picture. Policy development and implementation remains fragmented. In the majority of cases, housing organisations are the lead partner in regeneration strategies for estates

Contact info

Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University
Alan Murie

Publication date

01/01/2004

Project finished

Researcher

Stephen Hall, Alan Murie, Rob Rowlands, Siân Sankey

Links

University of Birmingham RESTATE - Restructuring Large Housing Estates in European Cities

Large Housing Estates: Policies and practices ( PDF, Eng, 1,41 MB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Housing > Housing policy

Keywords

Social housing