From deprived to healthy neighbourhoods? Urban regeneration of deprived neighbourhoods in metropolitan regions

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a comparative case study of urban regeneration of deprived neighbourhoods in Germany and in the United Kingdom. It investigates the level of regeneration improvements and the potential for becoming healthy neighbourhoods by tracing the process of urban regeneration and assessing policies influencing health that can be tackled by urban planning. Results show that urban regeneration should provide different types of housing to support social mixing, enable increase in population number to support local facilities, enable access to quality open spaces and various mobility options. Only holistic approach aiming at health improvement may contribute to creating a healthy neighbourhood.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban renewal
• healthy cities
• urban health determinants

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Susanne Moebus and Alexander Schmidt, both from the University of Duisburg-Essen, for their input, as well as to neighbourhood residents and planners in Gelsenkirchen and Salford for their time and support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Methodological approach and the criteria for selection of case studies are described in Appendix 1.

2. In fact, it’s putting back everything that was missing, to make a thriving community … It’s an all-encompassing, holistic approach. You cannot put just a small sticking plaster on a huge wound, so we had to be very broad in what we were trying to seek to achieve, and that was very important. (Regional Project Director at Countryside Properties, private developer, interview on July 8^th, 2015).

3. Basically, we believe that urban renewal needs an integrated approach, thus we look at the structural-investment, social dimensions, ecologically sustainable dimensions and the economic situation of a district as a whole. For us, urban renewal, if we renew, means integrated renewal” (Janine Feldmann, Head of the Urban Renewal Coordination Office, City of Gelsenkirchen, interview on Nov. 11^th, 2015, own translation).

4. See Appendix 2.

5. ‘Now, us on the steering group, we were flown down to London at the very beginning to see an estate out in Essex. We flew into City Airport in London itself and then we were taken to Peckham. … We went out to Essex. They had gone through the process of getting us on little aeroplanes up and down the country so that was nice.’ (Interview with local resident and member of residents steering group, Lower Broughton, Salford, 20 May 2015).

6. 400 m buffer, comfortable walking distance (Barton et al. 2010).

7. Online link to the Master Plan https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxmcmllbmRzb2ZhbGJlcnRwYXJrfGd4OjE1Zjc3MWUwZjk2OTQwNTU.

8. ‘Planning obligations used as a means to remedy local deficiencies in the quantity or quality of open space, sports and recreational provision … where the quantity or quality of provision is inadequate or under threat, or where new development increases local needs.’ DCLG (n.d.), p. 13.

9. ‘So you can see things that were very important ten years ago, you don’t see them as much now. Like antisocial behaviour used to be a big problem, you know, with young people on the streets. It’s not so much a problem now, so you don’t see that in priorities quite so much.’ (Neighbourhood Manager, Lower Broughton, Salford, interview on May 15^th, 2015).

10. Questions for the semi-structured interviews are in Appendix 4 and a list of MAXQDA Codes that were used for the analysis is in Appendix 5.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julita Skodra

Julita Skodra is a postdoctoral researcher in urban health in the Centre for Urban Epidemiology at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her research, at the intersection of urban planning and health and well-being focuses on understanding the conditions necessary for urban transformation towards sustainable and healthy neighbourhoods and cities.