Five Cities bounce back – piecing communities together again
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Anne Power
Abstract
This chapter uncovers the roots of urban recovery in the return to ‘small is beautiful’ and inner-city renewal. It explains that the shift to renovation demonstrated that renewal could be cost-effective and quick with nothing like the disruption and damage caused by demolition. It notes that renovation was immensely popular with tenants and low-income owners, particularly from minority ethnic groups who were still often excluded from council housing. It adds that the birth of ‘neighbourhood renewal’ through property renovation led to the rebirth of the inner city, attracting back more prosperous households, as well as holding onto existing communities, and generating new services, jobs, and investment. It explains that gentrification – the displacement of lower-income residents by higher-income newcomers – put pressure on existing communities, but far less than the brutal exclusions of wholesale clearance.
Abstract
This chapter uncovers the roots of urban recovery in the return to ‘small is beautiful’ and inner-city renewal. It explains that the shift to renovation demonstrated that renewal could be cost-effective and quick with nothing like the disruption and damage caused by demolition. It notes that renovation was immensely popular with tenants and low-income owners, particularly from minority ethnic groups who were still often excluded from council housing. It adds that the birth of ‘neighbourhood renewal’ through property renovation led to the rebirth of the inner city, attracting back more prosperous households, as well as holding onto existing communities, and generating new services, jobs, and investment. It explains that gentrification – the displacement of lower-income residents by higher-income newcomers – put pressure on existing communities, but far less than the brutal exclusions of wholesale clearance.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables, figures and photographs vii
- Preface xi
- Introducing Jigsaw cities 1
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How did we get here?
- Jigsaws and Lego sets 13
- Breaking up the jigsaw 37
- Building the New Jerusalem – vision and reality 55
- Cities bounce back – piecing communities together again 79
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Where are we now?
- Britain’s cities today: a progress report 105
- Britain’s cities of yesterday and tomorrow 135
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Where do we go from here?
- Smart cities work 163
- Future cities: piecing the jigsaw together 187
- Afterword: the urban jungle or urban jigsaw? 215
- Notes and references 217
- Bibliography 241
- Index 255
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables, figures and photographs vii
- Preface xi
- Introducing Jigsaw cities 1
-
How did we get here?
- Jigsaws and Lego sets 13
- Breaking up the jigsaw 37
- Building the New Jerusalem – vision and reality 55
- Cities bounce back – piecing communities together again 79
-
Where are we now?
- Britain’s cities today: a progress report 105
- Britain’s cities of yesterday and tomorrow 135
-
Where do we go from here?
- Smart cities work 163
- Future cities: piecing the jigsaw together 187
- Afterword: the urban jungle or urban jigsaw? 215
- Notes and references 217
- Bibliography 241
- Index 255
