Abstract
This thesis focuses on one of the most controversial and ambitious urban regeneration
policies of recent years – the plan to create sustainable communities via Housing Market
Renewal Pathfinders (HMRP). Announced as a ‘step change’ in urban policy to
overcome problems of low demand and abandonment experienced most acutely in nine
former industrial towns and cities in the north and midlands of England, the Sustainable
Communities Plan (SCP) (ODPM, 2003a) involves the demolition and relocation of
mainly white, working class inner-urban communities. This thesis focuses on a year long
moment in the process of regeneration in one such HMRP in North East England, known
as ‘Bridging NewcastleGateshead’ (BNG) and draws from rich, detailed ethnographic
case studies of three former industrial communities.
Originally, the thesis draws together critical engagements with the concepts of space,
governance, community, sustainability and materiality to develop a relational
understanding of urban regeneration. Starting with an understanding of ‘spaces of
regeneration’ as spaces in the process of becoming this perspective moves beyond
normative, prescriptive understandings of spaces as static and contained and subject to
the process of spatial regulation from above i.e. power over. Rather than a
straightforward process of spatial regulation to transform people and places, the process
of regeneration involves uncertainties, negotiations, contestations and emotions
between the multiple social, material, economic and environmental networks. The thesis
has drawn together urban theories and empirical evidence (including historical and
contemporary policy analysis as well as a range of qualitative methods) to illustrate the
relational transformation of people and places. Governmentality provides the main
conceptual framework. This leads to an in-depth exploration of the rationalities and
technologies of urban regeneration from three perspectives in the empirical chapters -
governing communities, demolishing communities and transforming communities.
policies of recent years – the plan to create sustainable communities via Housing Market
Renewal Pathfinders (HMRP). Announced as a ‘step change’ in urban policy to
overcome problems of low demand and abandonment experienced most acutely in nine
former industrial towns and cities in the north and midlands of England, the Sustainable
Communities Plan (SCP) (ODPM, 2003a) involves the demolition and relocation of
mainly white, working class inner-urban communities. This thesis focuses on a year long
moment in the process of regeneration in one such HMRP in North East England, known
as ‘Bridging NewcastleGateshead’ (BNG) and draws from rich, detailed ethnographic
case studies of three former industrial communities.
Originally, the thesis draws together critical engagements with the concepts of space,
governance, community, sustainability and materiality to develop a relational
understanding of urban regeneration. Starting with an understanding of ‘spaces of
regeneration’ as spaces in the process of becoming this perspective moves beyond
normative, prescriptive understandings of spaces as static and contained and subject to
the process of spatial regulation from above i.e. power over. Rather than a
straightforward process of spatial regulation to transform people and places, the process
of regeneration involves uncertainties, negotiations, contestations and emotions
between the multiple social, material, economic and environmental networks. The thesis
has drawn together urban theories and empirical evidence (including historical and
contemporary policy analysis as well as a range of qualitative methods) to illustrate the
relational transformation of people and places. Governmentality provides the main
conceptual framework. This leads to an in-depth exploration of the rationalities and
technologies of urban regeneration from three perspectives in the empirical chapters -
governing communities, demolishing communities and transforming communities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisors/Advisors |
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| Award date | 1 Sept 2010 |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |