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Urban renaissance is a term used to describe the recent period of repopulation and regeneration of many British cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, and parts of London after a period of inner city urban decay and suburbanisation during the mid-20th century.

Regeneration was achieved through a number of initiatives including tax incentives and the lifting of some planning restrictions, as well as positive state intervention encouraging business and residents back into city centre areas. It differs from the New Urbanism popular in North America, but could be considered the British equivalent. Large developments such as the London Docklands project have helped to encourage people back into the city, assisted by gentrification.

Often, 17th and 18th-century canals and docks are redeveloped to create expensive modern inner city flats, and old railway yards and derelict industrial sites have been regenerated by 'Urban Renewal Companies' and 'Regional Development Agencies' to provide mixed use developments with public art and high-quality streetscapes. Derelict but attractive historical buildings are often converted into residential or commercial premises (dubbed "loft apartments" in the US) with generous grants or tax relief.

Efforts to revitalise urban areas often involve ideas of downtown/city centre as an art and cultural hub or arts district, somewhat akin to Richard Florida's concept of making the urban core friendly to the Creative Class. City leaders may promote events such as First Friday art walks and the construction of convention centers and theatres in order to attract visitors who live in suburbs.

Not all locations that claim an "urban renaissance" fully live up to the name. Many American cities have renaissance-themed agency and building names that do not actually experience downtown renewal. A good example is the Renaissance Center and Detroit Renaissance Board in the city of Detroit, Michigan, where the intent by city leaders to create an urban renaissance may have been thwarted. However, most American cities have seen at least a modest bounce in interest in core cities and older neighborhoods in recent years with a special emphasis on condominium projects, often in formerly non-residential structures. Most practitioners would agree that Britain's city centres have turned a corner, although some inner cities around the Central Business Districts and lower-density suburban areas continue to suffer from blight and urban decay.

Criticism

In a 2008 report, the Policy Exchange think tank argued that policies to regenerate struggling cities over the previous ten, twenty or even fifty years have failed - "we can’t buck economic geography... Places that enjoyed the conditions for creating wealth in the coal-powered 19th-century are often poorly positioned today. There is no realistic prospect that our regeneration towns and cities can converge with London and the South East. There is, however, a very real prospect of encouraging significant numbers of people to move from those towns to London and the South East." The report was criticised by a number of British politicians.

Notes

1. The beginnings of an urban renaissance? Recent migration flows into and out of English cities, as revealed in a new study, just may be the glimmerings of a new pro-urban movem...
2. BBC NEWS | Wales | The Regeneration Game
3. Detroit Renaissance
4. Leunig, Tim (2008-08-13). "Cities Unlimited: Making Urban Regeneration Work" (PDF). Policy Exchange. Retrieved 2008-08-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
5. "Northern cities 'beyond revival'". BBC News. 2008-08-13. Retrieved 2008-08-13.

External links

• Detroit Renaissance Board
• City of Rochester New York Renaissance plan
• Google Search for other cities touting an urban renaissance

• Urban studies and planning