Urban Regeneration Programmes Research Articles

Managing Materials Vendor Risks for Improved Project Operational Performance

Highlight: Sound risk management implementation is well noted for helping organisations to overcome operational inefficiencies. However, the management of risk associated with construction materials vendors, and how they impact project operational performance appear to have not been extensively researched. Goal: In this study, the effect of materials vendor risk management (vendor risk identification and vendor risk prevention) on project operational performance (project quality and scheduled completion time) was investigated. We also interrogate the mediating role of risk-oriented culture in the relationship between vendor risk management and operational performance. Design/Methodology/Approach: The target population was all 1,044 registered public construction firms under the Urban Regeneration Programme in Nigeria. The cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and random sampling was used to select 173 project managers, engineers, surveyors, vendors/contractors, and store representatives. Primary data was collected through the structured questionnaire, they were analysed via the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique. Results: Three main conclusions are made about managing vendor risks: First, properly identified materials vendor risks (in terms of material handling issues, price escalation, non-compliance to specification, delivery delay, and sharp procurement practices) is positively related to operational performance. Second, implementing context-specific risk prevention measures (prior assessment score, vendor financial capacity, warranty policy, continuous monitoring, technical capacity) positively enhances operational outcomes. Third, paying attention to risk culture orientation of project stakeholders positively impact their risk prevention capability and operational performance of construction projects. Limitations: Study was limited to few operational performance indicators in project management. Future study could include other performance indicators. Practical Implications: The results can help project operations managers in industry address numerous risks associated with materials vendor. Originality/Values: The numerous abandoned and failed construction projects in developing countries as a result of less attention to vendor risks management prompted this study.

Multicriteria-decision support for master plan scheduling: urban regeneration of an industrial area in Northern Italy

Urban regeneration programs involve a series of intricate activities that utilize human, material, and financial resources, executed at varying times and in diverse manners. Within this complex scenario, a major challenge lies in effectively managing concurrent developments across multiple buildings and infrastructure projects, while also harmonizing the interests of all parties engaged in urban regeneration initiatives. This paper introduces a multi-step strategy designed to enhance and streamline urban management amid the multifaceted decision-making processes characteristic of urban regeneration efforts. Specifically, the multi-criteria decision-making model ELECTRE TRI-B is employed to sort the array of basic tasks within a complex transformation endeavor into priority groups based on various evaluative criteria. To ascertain the significance of these criteria and rank each task according to the interests of the stakeholders likely to be impacted, a panel of specialists, including construction experts, economists, and environmental assessors, is convened. Following this, project actions are organized in a Gantt chart reflecting the construction priority determined by the evaluation model. This approach facilitated the temporal organization of master plan activities, incorporating insights from a broad spectrum of experts including municipal technical staff, professionals, and the community at large. The findings indicate that this comprehensive and interactive approach to performance measurement enabled the handling of extensive datasets and the refinement of financial, economic, environmental, and social resources, all while adhering to logical constraints and urban policy demands.

Short-term health effects of an urban regeneration programme in deprived neighbourhoods of Barcelona.

Urban regeneration programmes are interventions meant to enhance the wellbeing of residents in deprived areas, although empirical evidence reports mixed results. We evaluated the health impact of a participatory and neighbourhood-wide urban regeneration programme, Pla de Barris 2016-2020, in Barcelona. A pre-post with a comparison group study design. Using data from a cross-sectional survey performed in 2016 and 2021. The health outcomes analysed were mental health, alcohol and psychotropic drug use, perceived health status, physical activity and obesity. Depending on the investment, two intervention groups were defined: moderate- and high-intensity intervention groups. The analysis combined difference-in-difference estimation with an inverse weighting derived from a propensity score to reduce potential biases. The impact of the intervention in percentages and its confidence interval were estimated with a linear probability model with clustered adjusted errors. The intervention had a positive impact on health outcomes in women in the high-intensity intervention group: a reduction of 15.5% in the relative frequency of those experiencing poor mental health, and of 21.7% in the relative frequency of those with poor self-perceived health; and an increase of 13.7% in the relative frequency of those doing physical activity. No positive impact was observed for men, but an increase of 10.3% in the relative frequency of those using psychotropic drugs in the high-intensity intervention group. This study shows positive short-term effects of the urban regeneration programme Pla de Barris 2016-2020 on health outcomes in women in the high-intensity intervention group. These results can guide future interventions in other areas.

Urban Renewals: Learning from a Country’s Recent Experience for Enhancing Socially-Sustainable Global Planning Policy

Against the background of urban redevelopment programs through the lens of varied, country-related planning cultures, this article sets the stage for learning from one country’s recent experience. In this article, we focus on two Israeli urban regeneration programs operating since 2000: the ‘Integrated National Planning Scheme’ (TAMA 38) and ‘Evacuate and Build’ (Pinuy Binuy) programs. This article aims to examine the governmental agenda behind these programs in comparison to previous urban regeneration programs and, especially, to critically review the implementation and implication of these programs considering social sustainability issues. Methodologically, the policies and practices of this recent wave of urban renewals in Israel are revisited through a critical reading of a series of studies from the last five years, bringing together multidimensional societal aspects. In terms of ethics and qualitative dimensions, the examined societal aspects are rooted in social sustainability theory and contemporary urban policy design. Our findings regarding this country-related recent experience in urban renewals have identified several gaps concerning certain aspects of social sustainability theory and practice. These gaps call for a better understanding by Israel’s urban policy makers of the comprehensive essence of contemporary social sustainability theory, which should also be mirrored in the respective professional discourse. The gaps are also useful in informing our accumulating transnational knowledge and experience in urban renewal schemes, based on a chain of country-related experiences and planning cultures.

MONITORING OF AIRBORNE FIBERS DURING ASBESTOS REMEDIATION: THE CASE STUDY OF THE “ETERNIT” SITE IN THE BAGNOLI-COROGLIO AREA OF RELEVANT NATIONAL INTEREST

As part of the broader implementation of the Environmental Remediation and Urban Regeneration Program (PRARU) of the Bagnoli-Coroglio area of relevant national interest (Naples, Italy), one of the priority actions was the completion of the soil remediation interventions of the former Eternit site, focused on the safe removal of soil and materials containing asbestos still present in the area (approximately 25,700 tonnes of hazardous waste).This area has an extension of approximately 157,000 m2 where the production of products containing asbestos had been carried out from 1939 to 1985. In 1997, the first reclamation activities began, consisting of the decommissioning of industrial structures and continuing with the removal of buried materials. These activities were interrupted in 2014 and then resumed in 2020 until completion at the beginning of 2023.The activities, completed to date, were run under the constant control of the territorially competent “ASL Napoli 1”, and with the implementation of a specific shared plan for monitoring airborne fibers both inside the construction site and outside in the surrounding areas.In particular, environmental monitoring activities were performed before, during and post-operation on eight control units, three of which were located within the construction site and five in the surrounding areas at potentially sensitive targets, as well as personal sampling of the exposed operators.The methods for identifying asbestos fibers were both phase contrast microscopy (MOCF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).In both cases, the monitoring results never showed that the thresholds established by Italian legislation were exceeded, both in terms of total fibers and asbestiform fiber.

Regeneration towards suitability: A decision-making framework for determining urban regeneration mode and strategies

Urban regeneration has become a popular research topic globally against the critical challenges that cities face with the decay of urban function, urban fabric, and residents living condition. However, it is the proper decision-making on urban regeneration mode and strategies to bring the long-term effectiveness of urban regeneration, no matter how much efforts and resources are devoted. This study introduces a “two-step” decision-making framework for determining the suitable urban regeneration mode and strategies. The decision-making variables are mobilised to delineate the status-quo decay of the local territory across the facets of sustainable performance and physical conditions, thus the most suitable regeneration mode can be designed (step 1). On top of the regeneration mode design, the most suitable urban regeneration strategies can be further tailored by considering the regeneration constraint factors including the requests for historical and cultural conservation, government financial capacity and previous regeneration experiences (step 2). The proposed decision-making framework is proven effective via the case study of nine districts of Chongqing municipality in China. The framework is instrumental for assisting urban governors to identify the most critical issues that need to be addressed, and to tailor suitable mode and strategies for implementing urban regeneration programs in order to tackle the decay challenges and revitalise their urban territory. Via enabling the effective integration between the resources within a city and rationalising the investment allocation, the introduced decision-making framework is effective for the overall planning and (re)development at city level.

Innovative housing policy tools: impact indicators in the NRRP Urban Regeneration Programmes

The topic of indicators as measurers of the effectiveness of urban and housing transformations strongly re-emerge because of the performance approach the funding of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) is based on. Within the NRRP specific programmes, the issue of performance measurability of interventions was managed with the application of different indicators and application methods. The research group had the opportunity to work on the construction of a system of indicators for a national urban regeneration programme, financed within the NRRP. This paper describes the research aimed at the definition of the indicators for evaluating the design proposals applied to the NRRP financed program called PINQuA (Innovative Programme for Housing Quality). The proposed system of indicators proved useful to promote an objective reading of the interventions and to encourage, in the design proposals application, the response to housing quality criteria aimed, among other issues, at improving the cultural condition of the contexts.

Stakeholders’ perceptions of urban regeneration: the case of Kis-Pongrác in Budapest

Urban regeneration has been seen as the saving grace for cities, bringing hopes of rejuvenating their social environment, renovating their dilapidated buildings and revitalising local urban economies. To implement urban regeneration programs, governments have collaborated with various stakeholders for area-based initiatives. The paper aims to investigate the participatory, integrated approach in Hungary from the perspective of the key stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in a localised case study. Thus, the main objective is to identify the challenges within urban governance of a post-socialist which hindered the development of an integrated and participatory stakeholder engagement approach. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders that were then subject to thematic analysis. In the case study, findings provided critical insights into the interaction between stakeholders’ engagement and these projects. The findings also included the challenges that stakeholders experienced with the project and the need for long-term stakeholder collaboration between the residents, civil society and the government. It is hoped that the findings of this study are not only of interest to urban planners and how beneficial it is for the long-term to include local people in all the different stages of the program, but also to local academia to realise the significant role they can play in contributing towards the success of urban regeneration in their local communities plus in other regions through the sharing of their local urban regeneration outcomes to other academics.

Heritage conservation as a territorialised urban strategy: conservative reuse of socialist industrial heritage in China

ABSTRACT Industrial heritage conservative reuse has become a territorialised urban strategy in China’s recent urban regeneration programmes in which the local state mobilises appropriate property market participants. The spatialised interpretation of two socialist industrial heritage sites in Hangzhou reveals that industrial heritage conservation has been undertaken as property commodity development with built environment enhancement and economic rewards as priorities. Cultural values and social narratives have yet to be reconstructed to play critical roles in the territorialisation of industrial heritage. Anticipated community engagement and non-state interests’ bargaining power have been restrained by the state who exerts vigilance against social unrest that could be brought by heritage conservation.

11.E. Workshop: Urban Green Spaces, Built Environment and Urban - Mental - Environmental Health outcomes

Abstract Environmental sustainability, especially in an era of growth health inequality, is one of the most important challenges facing Public Health systems around the World. Environmental sustainability is responsibly interacting with the planet to maintain natural resources and not jeopardize the ability for future generations to meet their needs. The SDGs put environmental sustainability at the center of sustainable development. Environmental Health is the branch of Public Health concerning all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health, such as pollution, poverty and inadequate energy solutions. Urban Health is an intersectoral arena that links both the public health and the urban planning sectors, mainly captured by SDG3 (including Mental health) and SDG11. Both during the first waves of the Covid-19 pandemic period and in contemporary cities, urban environments were stressed; the resilience of our cities were tested, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the urban contexts, not always capable to pro-mote and protect the population health status. Urban Green Spaces (UGS) have proved essential role as “tools” to improve Urban Public and Mental Health. Unfortunately, the heterogeneous distribution of UGS inside the contemporary cities, together with the disparity in quality of such spaces, led to some exclusion phenomena. Evidence/experience-based research strongly demonstrated the positive effects on Public Health of the UGS, and for this reason, they are now becoming the strategic and challenging issue of many urban regeneration programs. The importance of UGS as a key infrastructure has generated the necessity of developing new health-centered design criteria able to conform to their new role in urban environments. The augmentation of UGS surface alone, does not necessarily make cities more livable. An increase in area and surfaces does not translate in ease of accessibility from all social groups or from all the cities’ neighborhoods, or not does it give data on the qualities of such areas, like potential for social engagement or Physical Activity. Aim of the Workshop - organized by the three EUPHA Section URB+MEN+ENV - it would like to be to build the capacity and knowledge between participants about the main topics and urban features capable to have relevant Urban Public, Mental and Environmental Health outcomes. Additional scope is to collected case studies and research experiences considered virtuous at the international level, analyzed in detail to highlight the main urban and architectural features of those healthy experiences and the related health outcomes, such as sedentary lifestyle reduction, increase of the attractiveness of places, reduction of air and noise pollution. Key messages • Promotion of healthy places - with particular reference to the green spaces - that enhance the experience and Mental Health needs to be part of green and inclusive recovery at all levels. • Policy Makers, Public Health experts, civil societies & citizens are driving forces to implement the development equation, allowing cities to become greener, inclusive, safer, resilient & sustainable.

Theories and practices for reconciling transport, public space, and people – a review

Prioritising people and public spaces in urban transport infrastructure planning is crucial to achieving sustainable development. This paper examines the theories, principles and real-world practices in pursuing a human-centred and sustainable design of an integrated transport infrastructure–public space system. The paper chronologically reviews the origins of the concept for building such a holistic system within urban and transportation planning discourse and revisits a set of typical practices of applying the design theories to various urban contexts. The findings of this paper are presented in a timeline of multi-disciplinary theories, and in a table of development patterns of context-based solutions for reconciling transport, spaces and people. These results expand theoretical and practical knowledge of strategies for integrating transport, spaces and people in urban regeneration programmes. Furthermore, they could support practitioners and scholars to revisit existing urban projects and to develop sustainable transport plans prioritising the roles of people and public space.

Collaboration on Urban Regeneration: Perspectives Towards Transit-Oriented Development Between Local Entrepreneurs and Key Stakeholders in Salaya Sub-District, Thailand

This study focuses on the future changes to the urban form around the Salaya railway station, which will be developed as a terminal station of the Bangkok metro service. The purpose is to investigate stakeholder attitudes to the transit-oriented development (TOD) approach to the station premises. The attitudes of local businesses and key stakeholders to joint programs on infrastructure development and the surrounding area are identified as local businesses encouraging the collaborative urban regeneration program. The approach uses scenarios as a tool for participatory planning to help identify future applications, including a workshop in two parts. The first part was conducted using group interviews with local entrepreneurs to raise the idea of the collaborative urban regeneration program. The second part was an evaluation of the program by the three key stakeholder groups: municipality, railway operators, and real estate investors. The scenarios evaluated by the key stakeholders indicate the different attitudes to the collaborative urban regeneration program depending on the role of each stakeholder. The collaborative program developed by local entrepreneurs can be classified by economic and physical factors. The findings suggest a common aspect for future collaboration in marketing strategies, such as advertising representing localness, as both local entrepreneurs and key stakeholders mostly agreed on the program. Disagreement on collaborative urban regeneration depends more on the specific role of the company or organization.

유럽연합의 지원을 통한 부다페스트 도시재생

The Budapest Urban Regeneration Project was started with the support of the European Union. In addition, in the early stages of this project, a project focused on improving basic urban infrastructure was promoted. As a result, in Budapest, it was possible to develop an urban area where visible results could be seen in a short period of time. However, this project alone was not enough to solve economic, social, physical, and environmental problems throughout Budapest. Accordingly, Budapest changed the direction of the urban regeneration project in a way that established medium and long-term urban development goals. With the introduction of mid- to long-term urban regeneration programs, Budapest has become possible to develop throughout the city, not only focused on urban centers. As a medium-term urban regeneration program, the "Budapest 2020" project was implemented, and the "Budapest 2030" project, a long-term urban regeneration program, is currently in effect.
 In this paper, we would like to examine the overall contents of the Budapest Urban Regeneration Project, which consists of programs that can improve the quality of life of Budapest citizens and preserve the unique environment and cultural resources of Budapest. In particular, by focusing on the core contents of the mid-term urban regeneration program "Budapest 2020" and the long-term urban regeneration program "Budapest 2030", Budapest aims for long-term sustainable urban development rather than short-term rapid urban development. This will provide useful examples for urban regeneration projects to be promoted in Korea in the future.

Urban regeneration and sustainable development – an attempt to assess a sustainable character of revitalisation processes in Poland

A study conducted for the purposes of the article aimed at assessing the degree of sustainable development achieved in the urban regeneration processes carried out in Poland. It covered a study of urban regeneration programmes adopted in the cities with poviat rights, where these processes are regularly monitored. Based on the analysis and interpretation of these documents, on the grounds of a methodology created for the purpose, the conducted processes were assessed in the context of the sustainable development principles. The aim of the article is to answer following questions: (1) to what extent the implemented projects fit into this paradigm, (2) to what extent they contribute to its achievement, and, more generally, (3) how to examine the issue of sustainable development in regeneration processes – as the current study is the first such research in Poland. The study which proves that, for the moment, the revitalisation activities are not too advanced, nor too harmonious, should lead to further, more in-depth research on the subject.

Medium-Sized Cities Facing the Demographic Challenge in Spain's Low-Density Regions through Citizen Participation Projects.

The roles of medium-sized cities in processes of demographic challenge have taken many different paths. New forms of urban sprawl, deconcentrating processes, and the emergence of the diffuse city have marked a change in the relations that Spanish medium-sized cities have traditionally had with their most directly influenced territories. In line with the theoretical framework of the European next generation urban regeneration programme, the main aim of this paper is to propose a methodology to develop a project that fosters resilience strategies and the revitalization of local environments. This will also benefit the institutions that are involved in promoting it. The innovative methodology employed has been denominated the “We Propose!” project and has received several national acknowledgments. This is a strategically designed civic participation urban renewal project and has been subject to geographical analysis through field trips and in situ research. A case study into urban renewal strategies was carried out in Ciudad Real, which is a medium-sized city in Spain’s third largest region. It includes an evaluation of both the design and implementation of what could be considered a successful case of urban renewal carried out in the city. This urban development initiative was undertaken by the public administration, but it was designed and proposed by local citizens.

In search of social equity in entrepreneurialism: The case of Israel’s municipal regeneration agencies

This article examines the roles of municipalities in Israel’s national, state-led urban regeneration program, contributing to the scholarship on the varied agendas of municipal entrepreneurialism. The Israeli urban regeneration program promotes the densification of private residential properties by incentivizing property deals between homeowners and developers. It has been criticized for attracting predatory practices and spurring conflicts between state, market, and community stakeholders. New intermediary bodies—Municipal Regeneration Agencies—were established as an effective policy response to both criticisms. We rely on 36 interviews and extensive document analysis to examine the roles and agendas of Municipal Regeneration Agencies, vis-à-vis the equity concerns associated with state-led urban regeneration. Municipal Regeneration Agencies support homeowners, increase regulation over private deal-making, and in two cases, direct entrepreneurial development of urban regeneration projects. We argue that these roles represent a model of equitable entrepreneurialism that attempts to reconcile the neoliberal logic of urban regeneration with a municipal commitment to social equity. This model allows municipalities to reassert their position in Israel’s centralized housing and planning policy but faces limitations due to municipalities’ varying capacities and continued reliance on market relations.

Residential satisfaction in large housing estates of Budapest: Is age really just a number?

With the surge in urban regeneration programs in housing estates in Hungary, there is a need for residents? perceptions of these programs to be understood. This is the first study to be conducted in Hungary and across Central and Eastern Europe to compare residential satisfaction between different age groups within the same city. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether residential satisfaction differs between the different age groups in the regenerated housing estates in Budapest. The study collected quantitative data from 217 residents living in housing estates that had undergone urban regeneration in Budapest, Hungary. Residential satisfaction was found to differ between age groups within the regenerated housing estates in Budapest. Both the 36-55 and 56+ age group models illustrated that the dwelling unit, housing condition, and housing support satisfaction indices were significant predictors of residential satisfaction. The first age group, 18-35, did not show the dwelling unit satisfaction index to be a predictor, whereas the other two indices were significant in predicting residential satisfaction in Budapest. Further analysis found no correlation between the indices with regard to gender, marital status, or length of residence. Thus, the study adds to the growing corpus of literature on residential satisfaction, especially since most of the extant research has been, up to now, conducted in Western Europe, Africa, and Asia. Furthermore, this study can provide valuable insights for urban planners, urban policymakers, and investors in amending current housing policies and contributing to future housing-led regeneration programs within Hungary.

Historical and conceptual perspectives on urban regeneration: a prolog to a special issue

PurposeThis paper aims to review multiple historical perspectives on urban regeneration interventions while also serving as a prologue to and the rationale for a Special Issue of the Journal of Place Management and Development (JPMD) on Placemaking and Sustainable Urban Regeneration in Japan.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the literature on city center regeneration, with particular attention to the USA and the UK contexts. The emphasis is on comparing and contrasting what have become known as the North American and European regeneration models. This background is helpful to place the Special Issue in a broad international context.FindingsThe key finding is that the history of planning city centers appears to be largely a response to urbanization and the problems it has brought forward. The papers in this JPMD’s Special Issue exemplify this finding with cases from Toyama, Kanazawa and Tokyo.OriginalityCities are transformed as their centers grow and develop. City centers represent important anchor points in every community. However, evolving functional decentralization has occurred mostly due to changes in flows of capital, people, materials and other socio-economic transformations. The review shows how urban regeneration programs tend to be implemented to correct and or improve physical, socio-economic and environmental problems associated with functional and programmatic decentralization.

Add, Transform, and Utilize. Possibilities of Applying Druot, Lacaton, and Vassal’s Modernization Strategies and Solutions in Polish Large-Panel Housing Estates

In 2004, in response to France’s 1960s and 1970s urban regeneration program proposing the demolition and redevelopment of large scale social housing developments, Frédérik Druot, Anne Lacaton, and Jean-Philippe Vassal created their PLUS theory (PLUS—Les grands ensembles de logements–Territoires d’exception). Its main aim was to modernize the existing buildings, and to add extra living space, functional freedom, and comfort. This essay examines the PLUS strategy and two of the architects’ projects: the Bois le Prêtre Tower in Paris and the Grand Parc housing estate in Bordeaux. Its aim is to examine the tools used by the architects and investigate the purposefulness and potential of using their solutions in Polish large-scale prefabricated housing estates. Combining the categories of luxury and saving in redevelopment of housing estates paves the way for a new outlook. Maximizing living space, quality, and freedom of living in housing facilities that are not part of the commercial luxury segment of the housing market may prevent potential gentrification and homogenization of the social structure in individual city districts.

Spatial Accessibility in Urban Regeneration Areas: A Population-Weighted Method Assessing the Social Amenity Provision

Principles of social sustainability serve to guide urban regeneration programmes around the world. Increasingly, the upholding of these principles is subject to qualified evaluation and monitoring. One of the cornerstones of social sustainability is access to basic services. This is also a strategic and operational objective in urban regeneration measures. While indicator-based evaluations of accessibility do exist, hitherto they have tended to apply descriptive statistics or density parameters only. Therefore, there is a need for small-scale, regularly updated information on accessibility, such as the nearest facility based on street networks and population density. This deficit can often be attributed to the complex methodological requirements. To meet this need, our article presents a method for determining the spatial accessibility of basic services with low data requirements. Accessibility is measured in walking time and linked to the local population distribution. More specifically, GIS tools in connection with land survey data are used to estimate the number of inhabitants per building; the walking time needed to reach four types of social amenity along the street network is then determined for each building; finally, a population-weighted accessibility index is derived and mapped in a 50-m grid. To test this method, we investigated four urban regeneration areas in Dresden, Germany. The results show that with freely available geodata, it is possible to identify neighbourhoods and buildings with both high population densities and poor accessibility to basic services. Corresponding maps can be used to monitor urban regeneration measures or form a basis for further action.