Abstract
Since the 1990s, urban regeneration has emerged as the main initiative of the European Territorial Development Strategy. A series of integrated urban regeneration policies have subsequently been implemented to redress the socio-territorial imbalance in urban areas by improving the structure of opportunities available to inhabitants. The aim of the current paper is to evaluate the effect of such policies of proximity on the “essential retail trade” in neighborhoods in Andalusia. A quasi-experimental methodology was applied using the Difference in Differences (DiD) technique in order to ascertain the changes attributed to the intervention of the projects. In addition, change trends were analyzed using repeat measurements models for each calculated indicator and in the different considered contexts. The findings show an increase in the density and diversity of essential retail businesses in experimental and control areas. We found that in general, intervention had no significant effect on essential retail trade. However, the results do indicate that the impact of these plans is conditioned by the possible effect of different contexts and their specific dynamics (historical districts of large cities or towns on the one hand or peripheral suburbs on the other). The study may contribute to improving the design of integrated policies by controlling for the specificities of urban areas targeted by intervention.
Highlights
The current study focuses on analyzing the possible changes that urban regeneration policies have brought to retail trade in these areas
The aim of the current work is to contribute to the measurement of the impact that urban regeneration plans (ARB, ZNTS, and URBAN) have had in the areas where they have been implemented in Andalusia in recent decades
The role of “essential retail” is fundamental to facilitate and promote greater economic development and social cohesion among citizens. This is important in areas where factors such as a lack of access to other areas of the city, poor mobility, and greater urban vulnerability contribute to the fact that the area “lived and experienced” by residents is mostly that of where they reside
Summary
In line with EU guidelines for urban interventions, the different territorial levels (local, regional, national, etc.) have progressively accumulated recommendations and experience regarding the practice of urban regeneration and what the processes of integrated intervention in neighborhoods entail. The purpose of these initiatives is to improve “quality of life in neighbourhoods with high levels of socio-spatial vulnerability, through a comprehensive repertoire of actions aimed at social inclusion, economic development, and physical space, focusing on the recovery of run-down areas, usually due to the cessation of industrial activity” [3] p. The purpose of these initiatives is to improve “quality of life in neighbourhoods with high levels of socio-spatial vulnerability, through a comprehensive repertoire of actions aimed at social inclusion, economic development, and physical space, focusing on the recovery of run-down areas, usually due to the cessation of industrial activity” [3] p. 70
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