Regeneration

Are there areas near you which have been 'upgraded' and transformed? Maybe the area used to be derelict, maybe factories used to be there from the Industrial Revolution or maybe the environment was contaminated? This process of upgrading an area for long-term benefit is called regeneration. There are many ways an area can be regenerated, many reasons why areas are regenerated and many consequences of regeneration. Chances are you've seen evidence of it in action at some point!

Regeneration definition and meaning

Regeneration can take many forms and differs from place to place, which can make it hard to understand. However, we can start by looking at the basic definition of regeneration and the context of regeneration in the UK.

Regeneration definition

Regeneration is the long-term upgrading of existing urban, rural, industrial and commercial areas to bring about social and economic change. There are many reasons that people choose to regenerate an area, which we will come onto later.

Regeneration meaning

In the UK, global changes in trade affected local factories. For example, in areas such as Port Talbort, Redcar and Scunthorpe, the low cost of steel from other countries caused the steel industry to close. Deindustrialisation caused by globalisation affected the people living in those areas. Regeneration is needed to help adjust to the post-industrial economy.

Regeneration in geography

Regeneration in geography involves strategies to improve an area. This could be through the construction of infrastructure, development of new housing, refurbishing the existing buildings, encouraging investment or any other activity that would improve an area.

Fig. 1 - A performer at Notting Hill Carnival parade

Regeneration in geography: Infrastructure

Although regeneration is a local process, infrastructure projects are generally expensive and require the help of the government. These projects are public-private partnerships, where the government provides most of the money needed and the private company would manage the plans.

The benefits of regeneration through infrastructure are the high volume of jobs produced due to construction. Also, improving transport links can lead to improved trade and migration links and help with increasing economic productivity.

However, the risks of regeneration through infrastructure are the high costs that could change during the construction because of inflation and changing circumstances. Another risk to consider is the environmental risk from the number of resources used, such as concrete, which produce large amounts of CO₂ and contributes to the issues of lowering air quality and climate change.

Regeneration Examples of infrastructure projects in the UK

The expansion of Heathrow airport is a project to build a third runway at the airport. It is expected to cost under 20 billion pounds and potentially create 70,000 jobs. However, there has been objection from local residents, MPs and environmental NGOs concerned about the pollution and increased traffic at Heathrow airport.

High Speed 2 (HS2) is a project to connect London to Wigan with a high-speed railway line. This could reduce the time of travel between the North and the South. It is also expected to support 34,000 jobs in total.¹ However it has been criticised because of the environmental damage it will cause.

Fig. 2 - Artist's illustration of HS2

Types of Regeneration

We know that not all regeneration is the same, but what are the different types of regeneration? Types of regeneration include sub/urban regeneration, cultural regeneration and rural regeneration. Let's take a look at what all of these things are:

Types of Regeneration: Suburban new builds

In the UK, housing is an important strategy of regeneration as the population continues to grow, and the demand for housing increases beyond what is supplied. Also, with the lack of social and affordable housing, there are currently unequal opportunities for people to access housing. There are a few factors that cause this situation.

• Lack of social housing: This stems from the large amount of social housing that was sold due to Margaret Thatcher's "Right to Buy" scheme to the occupants at a considerably less price than market value and there were not enough houses to replace them.
• Large number of empty and derelict properties: Private investors and private companies buy land to sit on for the price to increase or to get the planning permission to build on it.
• Overseas investors: the rising house prices in the UK and the investor visas have attracted overseas investors to buy properties that are then left empty or rented out.

The benefit of building more houses is that it works to overcome these challenges. There is a major issue concerning the lack of housing. This type of regeneration not only addresses that, but also creates construction jobs in the process. The risks for housing constructions are investors regenerate brownfield sites than greenfield sites due to profitability so habitats are lost and natural environments are damaged. There are problems also in limited projects concerning social housing and the houses being constructed aren't always affordable. This can mean that the regeneration projects don't always benefit the people who need them most.

Cultural regeneration can be seen in the retail, leisure and tourism sectors, where projects focus on rebranding and developing culture in the UK.

The benefits for cultural regeneration are that using disused brownfield land can be sustainable, retail and cultural projects can create more job opportunities, raise the local reputation and celebrate diversity. However, it can be a long-term change and may not immediately benefit locals.

Types of Regeneration: Rural regeneration

Rural regeneration (regeneration of non-urban areas) is needed as well as rural areas experience economic decline, outward migration (usually to cities) and deindustrialisation. Some rural areas have a lack of opportunities for young people, create social isolation of minority groups and physical isolation due to a lack of reliable public transport and services.

Rural regeneration works to improve areas facing these challenges. Some ways that this can be achieved is through the development of services, better transport links and improvement of the economy of a town. Let's take a look at a few examples:

The Eden Project in Cornwall

The Eden Project is a botanical garden built in a disused clay pit in Cornwall. It aims to attract tourists and provide employment and economic opportunities for the local Cornish businesses. The money created from more tourism, employment and economic activity has allowed the rural area to transform.

Fig. 3 - Eden Project in 2008

Bronte Country in West Yorkshire

The Bronte country connects rural villages in West Yorkshire with English literature and heritage, attracting national and international tourists. This benefits local businesses and Haworth uses Victorian aesthetics to regenerate the areas by attracting tourists.

Migration and Capital in Regeneration

National government policy plays a key role in regeneration as they make the decisions regarding international migration and the deregulation of capital markets. Both of these things have major impacts on economic growth and direct and indirect investment. These policies can strengthen or weaken the national and local economies. Where economies are strengthened, regeneration is likely (and possible); where economies are weakened, places may degenerate and be more in need of regeneration.

1. Migration: Open door immigration can help the workforce grow and fill in gaps in employment. Wealthy individuals from investor visa schemes are also attracted to the country, which can help boost the economy significantly.
2. Deregulation: Deregulation of markets is when the government lets go of control over a certain industry or service. This can result in previously state-owned businesses becoming privatised and create sudden competition between businesses.
3. Creation of business environments: Developing specialised business parks can attract businesses to a region and new start-up businesses. There are many factors that may encourage domestic or local investors which may be the workforce availability, the technology available or the reputation of the region.

Local Government Policies of Regeneration

Local government policies of regeneration concern local councils making planning decisions at a local level. Councils would draw up plans called Unitary Development Plans, which would identify areas of new housing, prioritise areas for regeneration, look for where new roads and major infrastructures are needed, and find areas for commercial development. These plans aim to create environments that would attract people and businesses such as retail parks, shopping centres, business parks and industrial parks.

Negative Impacts of Regeneration

Whilst there are expected positive impacts of regeneration from restoring or developing an area, there are negative impacts of regeneration.

From the perspective of the "trickle down" theory, local governments see gentrification as benefitting the community. The theory is that the investors in gentrification projects will invest in local services and businesses, the workers would spend their disposable income in the local area and the investors and businesses would pay more taxes which then can be spent on local services and improvements. This would benefit everyone in the local area.

However, there are negative impacts such as house prices increasing rapidly so that low-cost tenants are forced to leave and are replaced by high-income tenants. This creates a social division between the existing communities and the new residents (social segregation). Neighbourhoods can lose their identity as they start to look similar to other gentrified places. It is contested whether gentrification improves an area when there is a displacement of one social group, forcing another less affluent social group to migrate elsewhere.

Fig. 4 - Graffitti fighting against gentrification

Measuring the success of regeneration

Measuring the success of regeneration can be varied and can depend on what is focused on improving.

• Economic regeneration = This can be measured through the growth of the local economy's size, comparison of employment rates, industrial productivity and before and after schemes.

• Social improvements = Measurements include an increase in life expectancy, decreased applicants for social housing, literacy rates and reductions in social tensions.

• Improvements in the living environment = This can be measured through improved air quality, abandoned land being utilised and an increase in green, open spaces.

Regeneration case study examples

By looking at particular case studies and studying the strategies of regeneration used, it is possible to see the various stakeholders having different criteria for assessing how successful regeneration is. Case study examples such as the Salford Quays, Stratford and Croyde will be examined further in the next articles.