Consider a bustling downtown area with friendly stores, restaurants, and happy customers. A short distance away are communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment, as well as rundown housing and vacant lots. This story does not include one specific city. This is happening in many cities worldwide, including the United States. Neighborhoods in some of the wealthiest cities with thriving and expanding economies suffer from a lack of investment, jobs, education, and training.
Inclusive Urban Renewal
However, because of the positive effects on health and quality of life, affected area residents are now included in urban regeneration projects (Zheng et al. 2014). When urban renewal interventions occur, there are few repeated decisions, and the environment is frequently unstable and uncertain. Each investment decision is unique in terms of its social and economic circumstances and the relationships between the various groups and organizations involved. Federal, state, and regional government agencies, public and private development organizations, construction firms, consultants, and end-users are all involved in such an environment.
According to Zheng et al. (2014), the government’s role in the governance structure heavily influences urban renewal planning strategies. Based on the level of state intervention, there are three distinct types of urban renewal. The first method of regeneration can take place without the government’s involvement. The second option is for the government to bear the financial and policy burdens associated with critical social investments that promote social cohesion and welfare. Housing policies, purchasing and installing public health infrastructure in urban areas, and developing environmental regulations and initiatives could all fall under this category. The government can also intervene by investing in physical capital for the common good and regulating private sector development so that it is profitable. This could take the form of public transportation subsidies, investments in urban infrastructure, or even the proposal of contributions for land reclamation. Residents of a community undergoing renovation are the primary stakeholders because they are the project’s end users. Social inclusion is now recognized as a critical goal in urban renewal. Partnership is a beneficial element of sustainable urban regeneration within the framework of participatory processes. The issue of “community involvement” or “public participation” always emerges when considering the attainment of sustainable urban renewal. This collaboration is based on a shared understanding of how to divide the work most efficiently, considering each partner’s unique strengths and advantages (Zheng et al., 2014, p. 1).
According to Ah Goo (2018), the urban renewal process began in 2001 in the heart of Johannesburg City, South Africa. This disproportionately harmed the city’s poor, who were already struggling to find affordable housing due to a lack of options in both public housing and the private market. This is due to a severe shortage of affordable lodging options in and around the city. Furthermore, the city center is experiencing significant displacement due to gentrification processes transforming the area and driving up property and rent prices. This increases the number of people at risk of displacement. Neighborhood gentrification is a social and spatial displacement of the working class caused by market-oriented renovations (Esfahani 2017). People in the area have rallied behind development efforts because they see renewal as a reasonable and necessary way to stimulate the economy. In other cases, however, disadvantaged people’s buildings are neglected, never maintained, and their values decline. The methods implemented in this situation lower individuals’ consciousness of their welfare, leading to a decreased feeling of community and social resources. Collaborative initiatives facilitate the recognition and value of communal spaces, enhancing local economies, reinforcing social connections, and safeguarding cultural and historical relics (Ng 2018).
Several urban regeneration efforts have adversely impacted the population while failing to decrease the variety of ages and socioeconomic groups. According to findings from intervention zone studies, younger generations are more likely to leave, whether for housing or other reasons. In contrast, the elderly, the poor, and the uneducated are more likely to stay. These shifts have far-reaching consequences for people’s mental health, income, density, public opinion, and local policy, particularly housing. Women bear a disproportionate burden when it comes to the impact on family dynamics, child well-being, personal security, and individual prospects. To be inclusive for working moms, single parents, and older women, a neighborhood must provide convenient public transit, well-built housing choices, and social and community services (Couch 2020).
Couch (2020) argues that communities often exhibit significant economic and racial disparities. According to studies that have looked into this racial issue, urban renewal, and gentrification have disproportionately impacted Black communities. Immigrants are another impacted demographic who may face significant changes in their social and environmental circumstances, making them especially vulnerable to a variety of forms of stress. To avoid or reduce these impacts, it is necessary to have a comprehensive perspective on neighborhoods and the potential for intervention within them. However, this does not mean that material, social, and cultural activities should be replaced or diluted. It can pave the way for more people in the community to get to know, live with, care for, and defend one another (Thurber 2018).
People who live in the renewal area are an essential tool for democratic urban renewal planning because they will be most affected by the project’s outcomes (Ay 2019). For example, redevelopment in Germany was significantly influenced by the early 1980s crisis and other critical urban facts in establishing them as best practices. The squatter movements’ self-governance emerged as an early reaction to the prevailing demolition policy. Furthermore, there was a comprehensive and intricate exchange of ideas with the inhabitants, who actively participated in many aspects, such as modifying and refurbishing their own residences and using their occupied houses as experimental testing grounds. Third, there was the issue of collective agreements, which, over time, merged and upgraded urban regeneration systems. The German government is attempting to assess the urban renewal program and implement successful past strategies (Holm and Kuhn 2011).
Given the emphasis on social inclusion in the projects, the Third Way—a social-integrationist discourse and set of policies—might offer an appealing alternative to urban renewal programs. The fundamental issue of social inclusion is active citizenship, defined here as participating in neighborhood revitalization. Community capacity-building initiatives greatly aid the process of social inclusion. Apart from a welcoming environment, which suggests a shift away from passive assistance, the other three factors that may encourage community involvement in modern renovations are (a) the belief that capacity building is critical to project success and longevity and (b) the importance of investing in training and development for both local communities and the governmental structures that support them (Fallov 2010). One tool that social capital provides policymakers is the ability to connect regeneration policies with community focus. It provides quantifiable policy components (such as the number of neighborhood associations and organizations linked to self-governance cultures, activities, and responsibility) and explanations for policy failure, conceptualized as a lack of social capital. As a result of inclusive urban renewal, friendships, and neighborhood ties in socially excluded areas become more politicized (Fallov 2010).
Strategies for Inclusive Urban Renewal
Strategic planning is a forward-thinking process that establishes the foundation for comprehensive and long-term action, and it is crucial for promoting inclusive urban regeneration. In addition, it sets up a framework for ongoing decision-making that involves identifying the course of particular activities while generating local economic indicators by implementing forward-looking plans. Conversely, cities must be planned so that people are drawn to them and stay. For this purpose, a human-scale design is required (Gehl, 2013). The co-production of different stakeholders, such as federal, state, and local governments, collective businesses, the private sector, and civil organizations, should be an essential strategy for strengthening complementary relationships between urban areas and renovation projects (Lin and De Meulder 2012). Two qualified urban renovation strategies presented in the urban renewal bibliography are building places to stay and organizing group activities. These projects provide a superb chance to unite diverse space architectures and enhance social inclusivity. One of these concepts involves introducing culture-based technology or advanced service sectors to replace failed ones. Public authorities and private players, both from formal and informal sectors, may suggest the development of new commercial complexes and offices in essential locations, creating collaboratively generated spaces. These versatile spaces also unite the many components of an area’s construction, serving as meeting points and social hubs that link urban redevelopment zones. Collaborative alliances between different entities, including multiple governments, enterprises, and both official and informal sectors, are crucial for providing public amenities and areas, such as creating kindergartens, easily accessible cultural and medical institutions, and public squares (Lin and De Meulder 2012).
By improving access, connectivity, and integration, the upgraded infrastructure makes it easier for people to use the renovated spaces. Incremental improvement is one method for lowering the initial investment in infrastructure and services. This strategy proposes identifying the most critical infrastructure requirements and then improving them in stages. In addition, the need to provide more significant areas of open space and easily accessible public amenities for residents sometimes results in remodeling projects prioritizing decreasing the current housing density (Lin and De Meulder 2012). In this light, rehabilitating the physical tissue to serve as a foundation for a revitalizing community boosting people’s well-being and social capital would be an appropriate course of action. The community can rebuild it from the inside out in a way that is both sustainable and welcoming to its members by making good use of the space (Ng 2018).
Urban renewal projects cause many issues for locals due to gentrification, which makes the area uninhabitable for some. Urban redevelopment projects must also incorporate current city dwellers’ “voices” into their planning processes. The absence of reasonably priced homes for the Strategies for Inclusive Urban Renewal (Fig.) and other methods of opposing gentrification will undoubtedly increase future demonstrations. One of the recurrent themes in inclusive urban regeneration schemes is the increasing population of low-income urban residents who have chosen to reside in the city (Ah Goo 2018). Much has been written about gentrification, including its causes and potential solutions. One potential resolution is addressing land tenure rights by transitioning some inhabitants from “owners” to “tenants.” The concept suggests that inhabitants would own some housing units, while a business for the collective benefit would manage the other apartments. The objective of this strategy is to guarantee the accessibility of affordable housing for those with low incomes. Nevertheless, transferring property rights and the yearly appreciation of housing unit value need cooperation among many entities, including collective organizations, the official and informal sectors, and families (Lin and De Meulder 2012).
Conclusion
From the early 1800s to the postwar era, various principles guided urban renewal, with strategies that prioritized perception and functionalist needs while minimizing local society’s involvement in decision-making. Since the 1980s, the local community’s participation in renovation projects has steadily increased, ushering in a new era. Residents are now urged to engage in several phases, starting with the initial planning stage and advancing to the execution and implementation stages. Co-production is the optimal choice for inclusive revitalization initiatives that aim to include governmental and commercial institutions, citizens, and non-profit organizations.
References
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Fallov MA (2010) Community capacity building as the route to inclusion in neighborhood regeneration? Int J Urban Reg Res 34(4):789–804. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2010.00905.x
Gehl J (2013) Cidade para Pessoas, 2nd edn. Perspectiva, São Paulo
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Thurber A (2018) Keeping more than homes: a more than material framework for understanding and intervening in gentrifying neighbourhoods. In: Clark J, Wise N (eds) Urban renewal, community and participation, Cham, pp 25–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319- 72311-2_2.
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