The social dimension of urban design as a means of engendering community engagement in urban regeneration

Abstract

This study explores the social dimension of urban design in urban regeneration with a detailed empirical investigation of urban design in urban regeneration practices, principally Scotswood and Walker Riverside in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. The two case studies within the umbrella of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder programme provides a chance to discuss the social dimension of urban design in urban regeneration through a comparative analysis of different urban design approaches adopted for two areas and different outcome in the social dimension of urban design. This study concludes with a discussion about the social dimension of urban design as the antithesis of top-down master planning and the potentials of urban design in urban regeneration. It highlights that urban design plays a role in community engagement, as a means of engendering community engagement in urban regeneration.