This updated edition of British Urban Policy provides a comprehensive account of the policies, programmes, and effects of one of the most controversial urban policy programmes ever brought to bear upon British cities. The authors place the policies and practices of the urban development corporations (UDCs) in the wider sociopolitical context of evolving urban policy; present case studies of eight UDCs; and explore the legacies of the UDCs and the evolving framework for urban policy into the millennium.

Exploring the streets of London, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh or Cardiff, one cannot help but notice the striking transformations taking place in the urban landscapes. This prominent regeneration of urban areas in the UK and around the world has become an increasingly important issue amongst governments and populations. The growing concern has been a result of the impacts of the decline of cities since the collapse of manufacturing industries and the heightening of global competition. A range of innovative approaches to tackle urban problems have been taken over many decades to attempt to regenerate the fortunes of towns and cities across the UK. This text provides an accessible, yet critical, synthesis of urban regeneration in the UK incorporating key policies, approaches, issues and debates. The central objective of the book is to place the historical and contemporary regeneration agenda into context. Section one sets up the conceptual and policy framework for urban regeneration in the UK. SectiontTwo traces policies that have been adopted by central government to influence the social, economic and physical development of cities, including early municipal interventions in the late nineteenth century, community-focused urban policies of the late 1960s, entrepreneurial property-led regeneration of the 1980s and competition for urban funds in the 1990s. The penultimate section illustrates the key thematic policies and strategies that have been pursued by cities themselves, focusing particularly on improving economic competitiveness and tackling social disadvantage. These approaches are contextualized by discussions covering, for example, urban competitiveness policies and the focus on sustainable urban regeneration. The final section summarizes key issues and debates facing urban regeneration, and speculates upon future directions. Urban Regeneration in the UK blends the approaches taken by central government programmes and cities themselves in the regeneration process. The latest ideas and examples from across disciplines and across the UK’s urban areas are illustrated. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis that will fill a significant gap in the current literature on regeneration and will be a tool for students as well as a seminal read for practitioners and researchers.

Did the 1980s and 1990s see the death of planning? Exposing the myth that has grown up around Thatcherism, leading experts from a wide range of land-use policy areas examine the changes that were brought about in planning and the environment during the 1980s and 1990s, and argue that much less was achieved than expected. Urban Planning and the British New Right questions common assumptions about planning practices under Thatcherism, concluding that the complex relationship of power between central, local and national government requires a sensitivity to change that is inclusive rather than doctrinal. This is a book that says as much about the administration, institutions and processes of planning as it does about Mrs Thatcher's attempts to change it.

A thorough update of what was already an excellently written, accessible and well-used book. Coverage of the key issues to impact on regeneration in the UK since the 2008 financial crisis is comprehensive, and ensures that this latest edition will remain a key reference work for students and practitioners alike. - Dr David Jarvis, Coventry University and Deputy Director, Applied Research Centre in Sustainable Regeneration (SURGE) "An accessible text for students that provides an excellent summary of the challenges facing the UK regeneration sector up to and including the present age of austerity." - Dr Lee Pugalis School of Built Environment, Northumbria University An engaging, systematic guide to the most dramatic transformation of our urban landscape since post-war reconstruction. This new edition has been fully revised to include: Improved pedagogical features, including an expanded glossary and increased visuals, as well as key learning points, useful websites and suggestions for further reading More content on local sustainability and issues linked to climate change A new chapter, ′Scaling Up′, which examines how regeneration operates when considering very large schemes, such as the London 2012 Olympics. Jones and Evans draw together a mass of information around key themes in governance, sustainability, competition and design - from policy reports to academic studies - into a single coherent text, making this essential reading for anyone studying or working in the field of urban regeneration and planning.

This book documents and assesses the core of New Labour's approach to the revitalisation of cities, that is, the revival of citizenship, democratic renewal, and the participation of communities to spear head urban change. In doing so, the book explores the meaning, and relevance, of 'community' as a focus for urban renaissance. It interrogates the conceptual and ideological content of New Labour's conceptions of community and, through the use of case studies, evaluates how far, and with what effects, such conceptions are shaping contemporary urban policy and practice. The book is an important text for students and researchers in geography, urban studies, planning, sociology, and related disciplines. It will also be of interest to officers working in local and central government, voluntary organisations, community groups, and those with a stake in seeking to enhance democracy and community involvement in urban policy and practice.

Taylor describes the development of urban planning ideas since the end of the Second World War, outlining the main theories from the traditional view of planning as an exercise in physical design to recent views of planning as 'communicative action'.