Estate Regeneration Research Articles

Co-designing with community for net zero: Case study of a housing estate

To meet the UK’s 2050 net zero carbon targets, Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) is used to calculate the lifetime carbon emissions of building projects. This paper aims to compare different estate regeneration scenarios for meeting the interim 2030 benchmarks for the 2050 target. The research consists of a case study employing co-design and WLCA experiments, and impact evaluation surveys. The results of the WLCA demonstrate the lower operational impacts of fossil-fuel-free scenarios, and lower embodied and overall carbon emissions of retrofitting scenarios. To make an informed decision towards the future of the estates, different regeneration scenarios need to be studied, and the stakeholders should understand the carbon emissions of different materials and systems. The findings of this study can be used to compare regeneration schemes of other building types.

Should We Evict Critical Perspectives on the State-Led Gentrification of Council Estates in London? The Case of Woodberry Down

Research on council estate regeneration in London has revealed predominantly negative outcomes, including direct and indirect displacements, the loss of homes and communities, and the slow-violence enacted on residents by lengthy programs. Drawing on recent EU-funded research on Woodberry Down (Hackney), we highlight similar negative effects, alongside some positive, ambiguous, and novel outcomes. We discuss these mixed findings within two emerging trends: a new turn to criticizing “antigentrification” work on estate regeneration; and a housing policy turn back to promoting council homes and the refurbishment of council estates. We conclude that it is premature to evict “antigentrification” perspectives in the longue durée of estate regeneration in London, even in the case of Woodberry Down, which has had some significant community won victories. We also reveal new complicating factors in this “gentrification story”—“Guppies” and precarious private renters who are not the wealthy, professional gentrifiers of earlier new-build gentrification literatures.

Identifying the criteria for community-centred Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of estate regeneration schemes

Identifying the overall environmental, and socioeconomic impacts of different estate regeneration scenarios can contribute to the overall sustainability of such schemes. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is an appropriate tool for assessing holistic sustainability. To achieve resilient societies, the interests of communities should be considered in decision making. This paper proposes a method for incorporating community needs in identifying sustainability metrics for the sustainability assessment of estate regeneration schemes. A literature review in the field of sustainability assessment of buildings is conducted followed by a mixed methods empirical research. Collection of data has been through surveys, an interview, and an evaluation questionnaire. Data has been analysed through statistical and thematic analysis and triangulation of the results. The findings have consistently yielded the limitations of the scope of the current sustainability assessment methodologies, especially for lack of attention to societal impacts of regeneration. The results have justified the need for this research to employ participatory approaches for identifying a relevant set of sustainability indicators and criteria for assessing the lifetime impacts of estate regeneration schemes. Issues related to community involvement in decision making, maintenance and management, community facilities, refurbishment, and disruption have been identified as the stakeholders’ top priorities. Mental Health and Socioeconomic Values have been introduced as new criteria. The findings confirm the need for an in-depth approach towards identifying the regeneration priorities of the communities for the scope of LCSA studies. The identified list of criteria can apply to other studies of this context for an equitable approach for selecting the indicators across different criteria and for communicating the LCSA results with different stakeholders.

Estate regeneration and its discontents: public housing, place and inequality in London

Estate regeneration and its discontents: public housing, place and inequality in London

Book review: Estate Regeneration and its Discontents

Book review: Estate Regeneration and its Discontents

A Community-based Whole Life Carbon Assessment: Case study of a London estate community plan

In the attempt to adhere to the UK’s 2050 Net-Zero Strategy, more attention has been given to energy-centric decision-making over the regeneration of housing estates. Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) is the methodology used for the evaluation of the overall carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions of building projects over their lifecycle. The WLCA studies are mostly not understood by different stakeholders and are less effective in reducing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) impacts in the development of regeneration scenarios. This paper is part of a larger study on a multistakeholder lifecycle-based sustainability assessment framework and aims to further explore whether retrofitting can outperform the existing and new build scenarios for lower GWP impacts, and intends to examine the use of WLCA for the development of a regeneration scenario. The research consists of a single-case case study employing co-design workshops, surveys, and WLCA experiments. The community’s preferred regeneration scenario has been developed through knowledge mobility and co-design workshops with the members of the community and a UCL team of designers and researchers. The WLCA of different regeneration scenarios (existing building, different refurbishment scenarios, and a previously approved redevelopment scheme) has been conducted using the data from desk-based research, site surveys, building regulations, retrofit case studies and guidelines, and the planning documents of the council’s previously approved new build scheme. The results of the WLCA support the current studies in favour of the refurbishment scenarios over the demolition and rebuilding of the estate, and make a case for the necessity of understanding the GWP in design development to reduce the GWP of regeneration scenarios.

Co-producing affordable housing futures: tools for community participation

Archio interviewed by Dhruv Sookhoo and Ava LynamKyle Buchanan and Mellis Haward, directors of architectural practice Archio, reflect on their experience developing a toolkit of practices that facilitate co-design of community-led housing.In this interview, Buchanan and Haward examine the participatory approaches that Archio adopts to negotiate the delivery of enhanced housing outcomes [1]. They describe building trust with residents by interpreting their lived experiences and aspirations through architectural knowledge and practices. Discussion focuses on the co-production of design artefacts as tools that enable community stakeholders to negotiate shared ambitions for their neighbourhood within community-based development and regulatory processes (e.g. development management).In 2016, Archio was invited by London Community Land Trust and Citizens UK to compete for the opportunity to design and deliver eleven affordable homes on a disused garage site at Brasted Close, in Lewisham, London [2]. Unusually, a “Pick an Architect” workshop was held on the development site, where the public was able to evaluate prospective architectural teams for their ability to engage future residents and neighbouring communities in the collective examination of fundamental socio-spatial aspects of the project. Archio’s successful approach at the pioneering community land trust at Brasted Close anticipated their development of a toolkit of practices that emphasise collaboration during community-led development of affordable housing. These design tools were refine through use across a series of later commissions including a co-housing project at Angel Yard, Norwich and a resident-led estate regeneration scheme at Astley Estate, Southwark.

Fear and loathing in north London: Experiencing estate regeneration as psychosocial degeneration

This article analyses residents’ emotional responses to the regeneration – involving demolition and rebuilding – of West Hendon council housing estate in north London. Based on ethnographic research, the article outlines what living on the estate meant for its working-class residents in terms of providing ontological security and place belonging prior to regeneration. The reality of regeneration for residents involved multiple layers of physical, social, symbolic and psychosocial ‘degeneration’. The article’s focus is psychosocial degeneration, which is illustrated through three emotional dimensions: frustration, anger and betrayal arising from broken promises; stress resulting from living near a building site; and displacement anxiety regarding the uncertainties of where and when they would be relocated. The article highlights how residents are emotionally scarred by the protracted, opaque, ever-changing regeneration process. The reality of regeneration/degeneration for residents – involving state-led gentrification – is at stark variance to the official narrative that regeneration entails a smooth, unidirectional trajectory of improving homes and communities.

Listening as a Methodology, Longevity as a Goal: London’s Tustin Estate Master Plan as a Case Study for Community-Led Design Development

This essay explores the relationship between a group of design professionals, a community of residents, and a local council in the early stages of the Tustin Estate renewal project – a Master Plan and Phase One Regeneration for a south-east London post-war housing estate. In 2021, the estate’s residents voted in favor of demolishing and rebuilding its low-rise buildings in a residents’ ballot. This essay positions Tustin Estate’s engagement phase as a notable case study for community-led design, providing an overview of London’s introduction of resident ballots in estate development, leading onto the example of Tustin Estate’s ballot, which initiated its engagement strategy. Interviews with key members of the engagement process form the central research to this essay, which explores the role of ballots in estate regeneration; approaches to building authentic engagement; the importance of community ownership; and how listening enables knowledge transfer and creates a blueprint for longevity. The essay defines longevity as the culmination of design and build solutions based on principles drawn directly from residents’ needs, each of which being robust enough to avoid demolition for the long-term.

A Study of the Branding's Impact on Consumers in the Real Estate Market

Branding has evolved into an essential component of promotion. As little more than a consequence, the rate of adoption and application, particularly in the real estate sector, has increased substantially in recent years. Branding adds a new dimension to the development and regeneration of districts, communities, and luxury estates. A survey interview is implemented for data collection, taking into consideration the study's goals and objectives as well as the fact that all of the respondents were educated. The questionnaire comprised open-ended, confined, and numerous questions, several alternatives, etc. According to the report, customers have become major judgment providers, weighing in on various aspects such as the user's brand, the developer's brand, the property's price, the property's condition, the condition of the real estate, and the property's prospects. The dealer's income level influences his or her purchase intention. The real estate industry, as with any other, offers items and services to its customers. Despite the fact that there are differences in how the companies in this sector conduct their day-to-day business operations, the core business strategies, particularly those relating to marketing, are invariably comparable to those found in plenty of other sectors.

Care, urban regeneration and forced tenant relocation: the case of Ivanhoe social housing estate, Sydney

Urban regeneration has emerged as a policy response to disadvantage which characterises social housing estates across Australian cities. This paper explores the regeneration of the Ivanhoe social housing estate, focusing on forced tenant relocations. We argue that the State Housing Authority (SHA) utilised existing care networks to facilitate relocation. We investigate how The Salvation Army (TSA), a local service provider on the estate since 2001, were used to enable relocation. Adopting a conceptual framework centred on the idea of ‘care’, we reveal three interconnected themes. First, we argue that presence of TSA on the estate is a form of local service provision based on a foundation of long-term ‘caring with’ tenants to build community and address disadvantage. Second, these long-term ‘caring with’ relationships transitioned into a form of ‘caring for’ within the context estate regeneration and forced tenant relocation. Third, the efforts by TSA to care for tenants were mobilised by the SHA to expediate relocation, enabling regeneration.

Designing an incubator of public spaces platform: Applying cybernetic principles to the co-creation of spaces

The paper is based on the experience of creating and piloting a functioning ‘Incubator’ crowdsourcing platform for designing public spaces in an estate regeneration project in South London. The paper uses a cybernetics framework to analyse and present the way the platform itself was created and how issues of effectiveness, efficiency and equity were dealt with. It explores the generic qualities of interface and reviews applications of variety reduction in established crowdsourcing CS) models. It briefly presents the legal and socio-spatial parameters (like property rights) associated with the creation of the Incubators platform as well as the generic rules applicable to human-spatial relationships, based on studies exploring human-spatial interactions. Practical constraints including costs, catchments, life-span and meaningful feedback are looked into, followed by a discussion on social and political limitations associated with this form of public participation. The paper explains how those constraints where taken into account when establishing the operational parameters of the software platform and the experiences gained from the operation of the platform. Challenges and complications, such as the exclusion of actors, are identified together with the responses encountered in practice. While the Incubators platform succeeded in attracting younger planning participation demographics, older demographics were marginalised by the platform’s graphical user interface and social networking features. These findings highlight why, in spite of what it promises, ‘crowdsourced urbanism’ is prone to similar traits with those of analogue participation. In that sense, creating a CS platform which could convey the grass-roots ideas of actors and users of urban spaces in an efficient way that could be applied to a broad range of planning systems, appears to be a challenge.

Self-financing regeneration? Capturing land value through institutional innovations in public housing stock transfer, planning gain and financialisation

Social, economic and environmental aspects of building sustainable communities receive ample academic and policy attention; far less is paid to finding financially sustainable models of urban regeneration. This case study of the Hattersley Estate in Greater Manchester, England, provides insights into an innovative approach to financing estate regeneration via novel mechanisms of planning gain, stock transfer and tenure diversification, influenced by the Mixed Communities agenda. In the context of enduring spatially concentrated deprivation, state withdrawal of regeneration funding and residualisation and neglect of public housing stock by an absentee landlord - together rendering estate renewal too expensive for conventional stock transfer - regeneration partners have instead sought to leverage local land values for a ‘self-financing’ method of regeneration. This article describes how a novel business model and financialisation fix were conceived and implemented for Hattersley’s relatively successful estate regeneration; explores the political-economic implications and contradictions of this financialised approach for urban development trajectories; and draws critical connections between research on financialisation, land value capture and municipal entrepreneurialism.

Paul Watt, Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London. Bristol: Policy Press, 2021. xiv + 506pp. 54 plates. 14 figures. 7 tables. Bibliography. £75.00 hbk. £26.99 pbk.

Paul Watt, Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London. Bristol: Policy Press, 2021. xiv + 506pp. 54 plates. 14 figures. 7 tables. Bibliography. £75.00 hbk. £26.99 pbk. - Volume 49 Issue 2

Taking a long view perspective on estate regeneration: before, during and after the New Deal for Communities in London

Taking a long view perspective on estate regeneration: before, during and after the New Deal for Communities in London

Correction to: Dwelling in failure: power and uncertainty in a socialist large housing estate regeneration program in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Correction to: Dwelling in failure: power and uncertainty in a socialist large housing estate regeneration program in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Introduction to the special edition on overabundant macropods

Introduction to the special edition on overabundant macropods

Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London

In ‘Estate Regeneration and its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London’, Paul Watt’s focus is on ‘comprehensive redevelopment’ regeneration projects. Such regeneration sees estates demolished and then rebuilt as ‘mixed tenure’ communities, with significant numbers of properties being made available via the open market, facilitating the ‘state-led gentrification’ of previously working-class areas (p. 5). London (and most major cities) is experiencing a serious housing crisis, with the diminishing role of public housing being a major contributing factor. Although the working class and where they live have become increasingly devalued over the last forty years, scholars such as McKenzie (2015) argues that council estates and those who live on them should not only be viewed from a deficit perspective (see also Deverteuil, 2016). Moreover, Brown-Saracino (2018) argues that the perseverance of distinctive city cultures plays a key role in shaping the character of their residents and maintaining unique individualities in people. Such arguments would seem to have little impact on the implementation of policies, which, ironically, given the scale of the housing crisis, continues to see London’s public housing being replaced with new mixed-tenure developments as a consequence of regeneration. Against this backdrop, Watt presents narratives which are grounded in resident experiences and perspectives throughout multiple stages of these regeneration processes, enabling the reader to have a more nuanced understanding of how these London estates and their residents have managed very difficult circumstances. The book also contains a very good methodological appendix (pp. 437–52) in which the author expands the discussion of the study design and provides profiles of the research participants.

Dwelling in failure: power and uncertainty in a socialist large housing estate regeneration program in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Dwelling in failure: power and uncertainty in a socialist large housing estate regeneration program in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Displacement and estate demolition: multi-scalar place attachment among relocated social housing residents in London

The forced relocation—displacement—of social housing residents resulting from estate regeneration involving demolition has been the subject of considerable academic and policy debate. While some scholars and policy makers regard such displacement as having harmful outcomes in relation to loss of homes and community relations, others argue that residents benefit from relocation as they move to ‘better places’. This paper contributes to this debate, and to the wider 'post-displacement' research agenda, by providing an experiential perspective on residential relocation with reference to in-depth interviews with social housing residents in London who returned to new-build flats at the redeveloped mixed-tenure estates. The paper employs a multi-scalar approach to place attachment which is illustrated and analysed at three spatial scales: domestic (home/dwelling), intermediate (block of flats) and neighbourhood (estate). The home scale is the most positive albeit not unequivocal aspect of residents’ post-displacement experiences, whereas place attachments at the block and neighbourhood scales are characterized by extensive and intensive disruptions and losses.