Renewing urban renewal in France, the UK and the Netherlands: Introduction

Abstract

Three central questions are addressed in this ‘policy and practice’ special issue of the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment; the extent and the nature of changing approaches to urban renewal in France, the UK and the Netherlands; the effects this has on the articulation between public, private and civil actors; and the capacity of different actors to deal with their new roles and positions. This introduction compares the contributions to the special issue. A framework for this comparison is developed and then applied to the three countries under scrutiny. It appears that the objectives of urban renewal have not fundamentally changed. However, a common tendency towards greater involvement of local actors leads to more network-oriented types of co-ordination and thus influences the roles of both public and private actors. Notwithstanding this evolution, the central and crucial role of public actors in urban renewal persists.