Regeneration works? Disabled people and area-based urban renewal

Abstract

Disabled people are increasingly being drawn into the UK Labour government’s strategy to address area-based deprivation through projects which focus on employability as a means of tackling social exclusion. This paper draws on a case study of an employment project aimed at young people with learning difficulties funded as part of the Single Regeneration Budget, to explore how such projects operate in the context of area-based renewal, and with what gains, if any, for disabled people. The case study suggests that the perceived contribution of the project — and people with learning difficulties — to the area was as much about social regeneration, as building a local economy through the creation of active workers. Whilst being part of the SRB seemed to offer some opportunities for participation, the parameters of the policy itself — including its spatiality — acted to circumscribe some of the potential linkages with broader area renewal processes and the potential benefits for project participants, thus raising questions about New Labour’s social inclusion agenda.