The implementation of urban regeneration projects in Europe: Global ambitions, local matters: Fid-Bau Portal

The implementation of urban regeneration projects in Europe: Global ambitions, local matters

Spaans, Marjolein

The dynamic of the world economy influences function profiles of cities. Many European cities find themselves confronted by a weakening of their economic base and have formulated a new profile for which to aim. They have tried to strengthen the profile through inner city multifunctional urban regeneration projects. The assumption of this paper is that when looking at the implementation process, globalization will be felt in these projects at first. The research indicates that this in fact turns out disappointingly, both with respect to the involvement of foreign actors and in the influence of European legislation. The author studied six urban revitalization projects in three countries, the Netherlands, the UK and France. Each case includes upmarket housing, offices and cultural and recreational facilities and puts considerable emphasis on high-value public space and public transport.