Welfare Reform on the Web (November 2007): Community regeneration and development - UK

Conceptualising regeneration in the New Deal for Communities

L. Dargan

Planning Theory and Practice, vol. 8, 2007, p. 345-362

This paper examines the ways in which local actors involved in a regeneration partnership in Newcastle upon Tyne conceptualised regeneration using a discourse analysis approach. The author finds that 'regeneration' is a term that has been taken up and used by local actors who have not considered its meaning in depth. This is the result of both the powerful policy discourse surrounding regeneration and a lack of dialogue locally about the nature of the problems to be addressed.

New Labour's evolving regeneration policy: the transition from the Single Regeneration Budget to the Single Pot in Oxford

S. Brownill

Local Economy, vol. 22, 2007, p. 261-278

The regeneration landscape in the UK has undergone substantial change during the time New Labour has been in office. This article traces one particular aspect of these changes, the transition from the neighbourhood based Single Regeneration Budget to a funding regime linked to regional economic development (the single pot) through the experience of the city of Oxford. It focuses on the tensions between the competitiveness and social inclusion agendas and around changed governance arrangements. It identifies the restructuring of activity around social inclusion towards more economic outcomes and the difficulties of retaining community voices within regeneration activity at the sub-regional level as two particular outcomes of these changes which require further responses from all sectors involved.

New wine in old bottles? England's parish and town councils and New Labour's neighbourhood experiemnt

A. Jones

Local Economy, vol. 22, 2007, p. 227-242

This paper explores the potential of English parish and town councils for promoting community and local economic development and for fulfilling a role in neighbourhood government in the light of New Labour's declared intention of empowering neighbourhoods. There are some suggestions for the development of 'grass roots' local government and examples of involvement in local area regeneration.