regenerating places

• Near Places


  Those which are close to us. Near places are subjective.
• Far Places


  Those that are distant. Both near and far places may have a more emotional meaning.
• Experienced Places


  Places that we have actually visited. Some people would argue that you have to visit a place to create an emotional attachment to it.
• Media Places


  Places we have not visited, but may have learned about through media representations.
• Functions of a location


  • Administrative
  • Commercial
  • Retail
  • Industrial
• Insiders


  People who feel at home within a place. They may be born there, hold citizenship, be fluent in the local language, and conform with social norms and behavioural traits.
• Outsiders


  The opposite of insiders. Factors like being an ethnic minority or immigrant family can contribute to feeling like an outsider in a place.
• In the UK there is a pattern whereby ethnic groups cluster in certain areas, potentially because people feel more at home surrounded by others sharing the same ethnicity.
• Employment Sectors


  • Primary
  • Secondary
  • Tertiary
  • Quaternary
• Clarke-Fisher Model


  Describes the stages a country may progress through as they become more economically developed: Pre-industrial, Industrial stage, Post-industrial stage.
• Place Character


  The specific qualities, attributes or features of a location that make it unique. It is affected by endogenous and exogenous factors.
• Endogenous Factors


  • Land Use
  • Topography
  • Physical Geography
  • Infrastructure
  • Demographic Characteristics
  • Built Environment
  • Location
  • Economic Characteristics
• Exogenous Factors


  • People
  • Money and Investment
  • Resources
  • Ideas
• Causes of changes in place characteristics


  • Physical
  • Infrastructure
  • Competition
  • Role of planning
  • Economy
• Index of Multiple Deprivation


  Measures: Income, Employment, Education, Health, Crime, Barrier to Housing and Services, Living Environment.
• Causes of inequality


  • Occupational Hazards
  • Income
  • Life Expectancy and General Health
  • Educational Achievement
• Regeneration Strategies


  • Construction of infrastructure
  • Retail-led regeneration
  • Marketing heritage and culture
  • Construction of housing and development of new settlements
  • Sustainable communities
• Infrastructure Projects


  Generally very expensive and require government funding. Most are public-private partnerships.
• Government Departments Involved in Regeneration


  • Local councils
  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport
  • DEFRA
• Examples of infrastructure projects in the UK


  • HS2
  • Expansion of Heathrow Airport
• HS2


  Proposed high speed rail network which would connect London to Birmingham and then to Manchester and Leeds. The project is expected to cost £43 billion, but so far the project has gone over budget. Its aim is to reduce travel times and improve connectivity between the North and South of England. An estimated 60,000 jobs are expected to be created.
• Expansion of Heathrow Airport


  Building a third runway, expected to cost just under £20 billion (which would be privately funded) and potentially create 70,000 jobs. However, many MPs, local residents and environmental NGOs oppose the project as it will increase traffic travelling through Heathrow and pollution.
• Infrastructure projects are generally very expensive and so require government funding
• Public-private partnerships


  The government provides the majority of capital needed while private companies fulfill and manage the plans
• Government departments involved in regeneration projects


  • Local councils
  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport
  • DEFRA
  • UK Trade and Investment
• Local councils


  Aims to improve their borough, especially to attract new businesses, increase housing or regenerate a problematic location (abandoned, deprived or dangerous places)
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport


  Markets the UK's image abroad. This department will have contributed to the London Olympic Park regeneration project, as well as Commonwealth projects in Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham in 2022
• DEFRA


  Aims to improve declining rural villages, protect eroding coastlines and improve the agricultural industry
• UK Trade and Investment


  Supports UK businesses and tries to attract more foreign direct investment
• With a rising population, the demand for housing is increasing beyond the supply of houses for sale or rent
• There is inequality in opportunities to access housing and a limited supply of social and affordable housing despite a growing proportion of the population who need it
• Right to Buy scheme


  After Margaret Thatcher's 'Right to Buy' scheme large amounts of social housing was bought by their occupants for considerably less than their market value. Millions of houses were sold under this scheme. However, too few houses were built to replace them.
• People who would previously have been placed in social housing (housing owned by the government) where they would pay low rent are put in private housing. As rent in private housing is often very expensive and isn't affordable for low income individuals or families, the government is spending billions each year on housing benefits. These housing benefits help to top up a person's income to help them pay their rent. In 2017 the government spent £25b on housing benefits which is 10% of the entire welfare budget.
• Large numbers of empty, derelict properties - especially in the inner city, where brownfield land is more expensive to develop than greenfield. Lots of private companies and investors buy this land and sit on it until either the land price increases or they get planning permission to build on it.
• Overseas investors buying properties in the UK has seen house prices rise. Investor visas attract wealthy individuals (such as Oligarchs from Russia - see Globalisation detailed notes) who can afford multiple high value properties in elite locations. Many properties are left empty or are rented out.
• Increasing numbers of affluent people have bought second properties to rent out as an investment. This increase in buy-to-let properties has reduced the number of properties available to buy which has increased property prices and also the price of rent. This is especially difficult for first-time buyers.
• There has been recent frameworks developed by the government to increase supply, setting a target number of houses for local councils to provide. This has seen rapid new-build developments in the aim of regenerating sub-urban towns to encourage migration and economic growth.
• Suburban new-build developments


  Often in the suburbs of towns and cities, due to large, cheap expanse of land available whilst in close proximity to the job opportunities in the city centre. Developers are obliged to provide a variety of houses, so these developments contain a mix of properties to buy, rent or shared-ownership of a variety of sizes.
• Gentrification


  The benefits of gentrification and high-value properties has encouraged more inner-city development projects by constructors. The high cost of clearing and preparing brownfield sites (land already used for residential or industrial purposes) can be compensated by building high-value apartments.
• Regeneration projects occur in nearly all major cities, in the aim of attracting wealthy investors who might spend their money locally or establish business here. Local governments rely on 'trickle-down' theory for the benefits of gentrification.