The limitations of the urban village concept in neighbourhood renewal: a Merseyside case study

Abstract

This paper discusses the value and usefulness of the urban village concept within the context of neighbourhood renewal, and in particular considers the factors that have encouraged or limited its implementation. The findings discussed here are based on case study research into the Garston-under-the-Bridge urban village in Merseyside. The research finds that the urban village concept might not always be valuable or useful if applied in a renewal context. This is because typical place-specific attributes common to a renewal context might contradict the preconditions for delivering the urban village vision, and because spatial practices and meanings attached to both the form of development or the desirable pattern of community life by development professionals might not match the aspirations of the existing or future residents. Additionally, it was found that the concept has been used by professionals as a means to an end, or a language through which professionals organise and mediate their own context-specific interests. Essentially, the concept has been attractive as resources have been associated with it and as a result its language has been appropriated, interpreted and exchanged. Concern about the substance of the concept, its relevance and its legitimacy as a vision for guiding the form of cities would seem to have been less of an interest.