Coalitions in Urban Regeneration: A Regime Approach

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1493-1506 ◽  
Author(s):  
K G Ward

The author critically examines the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB)—the latest urban initiative to be introduced by the British government—through the use of urban regime theory. Set against the backdrop of the shift from government to governance, the SRB is read as a mechanism through which those occupying ‘spaces of governance’ are further empowered. With the real costs of the competition hidden, the author seeks to unpack the bidding partnerships, seeing the SRB as a dynamic process. Grounded in the USA, urban regime theory seeks to explain the rise and management of coalitions. In conclusion, the author suggests that the discourses surrounding the SRB, which emphasise empowerment, the role of the ‘community’, and the importance of coalitions in procuring discretionary funding, outweighs the monies available and that instead it is participation in the competitive process that is important.

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-523
Author(s):  
Domingo Morel

Over the past four decades, cities have experienced greater oversight from state government. Why have states become increasingly involved in local affairs? How has the increasing presence of state government altered how we understand urban politics? Relying on a case study of Newark, New Jersey, this article argues that the increasing presence of state government in local affairs was a response to the growth of Black political empowerment. Furthermore, the Newark case reveals that the changing role of state actors, particularly governors, in urban regimes requires an expansion of urban regime theory as a conceptual framework. Building on the argument that urban regimes should be viewed as intergovernmental regimes, the findings from the case study suggest that local communities are best represented under cohesive state– local regimes, while localities are exposed to less desirable, even hostile, state-led policies, under disjointed state– local regimes.


Author(s):  
Domingo Morel

As states increase their presence in localities, what are the enduring implications for urban governance and theories of urban politics? The chapter examines urban regime theory, the dominant urban political theory of the last 30 years, and argues that although urban regime theory is still a relevant framework to analyze urban governance, the changing role of state actors, particularly governors, in urban regimes requires an expansion of urban regime theory as a conceptual framework. The chapter introduces the concept of cohesive and disjointed state-local regimes. The concept proposes that local leaders can best represent the needs of their communities under cohesive state-local regimes, while localities are exposed to less desirable, even hostile, state-led policies under disjointed state-local regimes.


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Strange

In the context of changing relations between the state, business, and urban policy, this article focuses on the role of business participation in the regeneration of Sheffield. It assesses whether Sheffield's business leaders have been able to establish a distinctive business-orientated development agenda in Sheffield's regeneration coalition, and considers the extent to which business participation in urban affairs has been influenced by the restructuring of the local state by central government. A further aim of the paper is to explore the relevance of urban regime theory in interpreting the role of local business leaders in urban governance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-143
Author(s):  
Ocean Howell

American urban historians have begun to understand that digital mapping provides a potentially powerful tool to describe political power. There are now important projects that map change in the American city along a number of dimensions, including zoning, suburbanization, commercial development, transportation infrastructure, and especially segregation. Most projects use their visual sources to illustrate the material consequences of the policies of powerful agencies and dominant planning ‘regimes.’ As useful as these projects are, they often inadvertently imbue their visualizations with an aura of inevitability, and thereby present political power as a kind of static substance–possess this and you can remake the city to serve your interests. A new project called ‘Imagined San Francisco’ is motivated by a desire to expand upon this approach, treating visual material not only to illustrate outcomes, but also to interrogate historical processes, and using maps, plans, drawings, and photographs not only to show what did happen, but also what might have happened. By enabling users to layer a series of historical urban plans–with a special emphasis on unrealized plans–‘Imagined San Francisco’ presents the city not only as a series of material changes, but also as a contingent process and a battleground for political power.


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