With reference to examples, discuss the overall effectiveness of urban regeneration schemes Many inner cities have suffered from urban decline in the past 30 years due to many reasons. In response to this urban decline many local governments have introduced urban regeneration schemes. The effectiveness of these schemes depends on the location, the type of scheme and the way it helps the community. One city that has a substantial amount of urban decline is Liverpool. This is mainly due to the de-industrialisation of the area due to the decline of shipbuilding and general industry such as the sugar making company ‘Tate and Lyle’.

Between 1971 and 1983 manufacturing jobs were cut by one third meaning the unemployment rate was high in this area of the city. With the decline of manufacturing, the city had many abandoned docks, warehouses and industrial areas/material leading to general environmental degradation of the area. Liverpool is the only urban area in the UK which can claim to have been host to every major urban regeneration policy experiment introduced in the past 35 years. One particular scheme was The Eldonians which was an attempt at creating a sustainable community.

The Eldonians is a community run redevelopment situated on the site of an old sugar refinery in the Vauxhall area of Liverpool. The Eldonian village is a housing cooperative built in 1983 as a response by local residents to the news that their housing was to be demolished and the community was to be split up and moved to different areas of Liverpool. They formed an action group, hired architects and were granted planning permission. They eventually built a mixture of small affordable housing with all housing looking over each other acting as a form of neighbourhood watch.

In terms of the effectiveness of the Eldonians, many believe it is one of the most successful ‘bottom up’ redevelopments in Britain today. The Eldonian village has become a desirable place to live with 295 affordable homes having a five year waiting list. The transformation of this derelict site into a sustainable community can be said as being highly effective with the site owning i?? 50 million of assets and has attracted i?? 100 million of private investment. In terms of the site improving this area socially, the creation of social enterprises to run services has boosted job and training opportunities.

Another urban regeneration scheme that was set up in Liverpool was the Merseyside Development Corporation (MDC) which was a form of a property led regeneration scheme. The main aims of the MDC was to clear up dereliction, bring the buildings back up to standard, bring back jobs for local residents and improve housing. The MDC took planning responsibility from the local council. One of the main redevelopments set up by the MDC was Albert Dock in the 1980s and 90s.

Previously before regeneration, Albert Dock was suffering environmental decline due to the closing down of the docks. However through the MDC, Albert Dock has been turned into a business park by government and also sites many museums such as the Beatles museum attracting tourism into the area. Other developments include the Kings Waterfront which is a substantial tourist attraction accommodation the echo arena and national convention centre and the Brunswick Business Park which involved the Brunswick Docks being filled in and turned into a business park.

The Merseyside Development Corporation was effective in regenerating the environment of inner city Liverpool. By spreading industry and bringing in private investment to the area, it has helped reimage Liverpool even to the point that it was voted City of Culture in 2008. Certain areas such as the Marina Development has been successful in re-urbanising the area by attracting young, affluent and middle class people back into the area. However the development has not been effective in providing jobs for ex-dockers and inner city residents.

The development has also not improved the housing quality for many inner city residents, and ahs also failed to provide appropriate facilities for these people. Gentrification can also be seen as an urban regeneration scheme. The is the renovation of property on a private and individual level leading to the reimaging of areas. A main example of gentrification can be seen in Notting Hill, London. This is a bustling urban area of London which in the 1950s was an area of slims and inner-city deprivation and was a place of rioting in the 1960s and 70s.

In the past 30 years gentrification has occurred here and can be seen as being effective as many houses here cost more than upmarket Mayfair. Overall many urban regeneration schemes can be seen as effective in improving the economies and environment of many city centres seen in both Liverpool and London. However in terms of improving the areas socially many schemes can be seen as ineffective by not providing the facilities that many inner city residents require such as local services and jobs.