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Urban Regeneration Companies: A Consultation Paper
3. Current approaches in Scotland
What's wrong with current arrangements and partnerships?
In many cases - nothing. As we stated earlier, Scotland has a sound track record in innovative working in this field. Scottish urban policy and practice has often provided a model of good practice by UK and international standards, for example in integrating training and economic development projects and in community-led regeneration in housing.
The Cities Review Analysis paper identified four examples of past or present delivery arrangements/ vehicles in Scotland that can point to innovation and partnership working hand in hand to deliver results:
- local authority companies such as the EDI Group in Edinburgh - where the local authority provides seed funding, usually takes a majority share, and enters into deals with the private sector;
- joint ventures such as Dundee Medipark and Edinburgh Waterfront Limited - where local authorities and public agencies have entered into joint ventures with each other or the private sector for specific projects;
- strategic partnerships where a range of partners, usually but not exclusively public sector, come together and pool resources to achieve agreed change in an area or community; and
- local economic development companies such as the Castlemilk Economic Development Agency - where regeneration efforts across a range of fields (from housing improvement to skills training) are co-ordinated and focused in a target area by one particular agency.
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All of these models clearly show that tailored solutions are necessary to fit specific objectives rather than a 'one size fits all' approach.
These are examples of success - but are these the only options? There are communities still living with limited access to employment opportunities, with environmental injustice on their doorstep, and an infrastructure that fails to support them in their daily lives. That is why we cannot be complacent and must continue to stretch our ambitions.
The challenge for us all
No one doubts the commitment of the thousands of motivated individuals across the public sector and amongst people living in disadvantaged areas in Scotland to accelerating growth, improving our communities, bridging the gap between rich and poor, and contributing towards a safer, smarter, more successful Scotland. But sometimes even the most committed partners find making progress difficult, or find problems too intractable.
We want to work with local stakeholders to work out why past initiatives have failed to make a sustained impact - and see whether a different approach might overcome those obstacles, fill crucial gaps, or secure the extra funds to get projects off the ground. Social Inclusion Partnerships already play a key role in local regeneration activity and proposals are currently being developed to further integrate them within the strategic framework of CPPs. That's why in considering URCs we want to make sure that the most appropriate regeneration vehicle is selected to address the specific problem and opportunities specific to an area. URCs must not develop in isolation.
QUESTION 1 What are the current barriers or obstacles to delivering successful, sustainable regeneration? In what circumstances would an URC help address these problems? |
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