Regeneration - Urban and Rural Rebranding

What Is Rebranding:

• Regeneration includes many areas such as infrastructure, economic regeneration, and migration.
• For regeneration that tries to improve the perception of a place, this can be called ‘rebranding’.
• Rebranding aims to improve the image of an area (reimaging) and therefore attract more positive key players.
• There are many methods which can be categorised such as: Housing, education, infrastructure, attractions, culture and sport.

Rebranding As A Catalyst:

• A catalyst improves the speed and effectiveness of a change.
• Rebranding hopes to act as the catalyst to improve an area such as income, deprivation, health, residents etc.
• Each rebranding strategy can act as a catalyst to target different groups e.g. health-centres, Marketplace for consumers, Interchange for local businesses
• Ideally, a multiplier effect should be created.

The Need For Rebranding In Rural Places:

Problems In Rural Areas:

• The countryside ‘perception can be that it is boring and undeveloped
• Lack of industry and employment
• Young professionals often move to the towns
• Depopulation – rural areas often dominated by young and elderly
• Leads to decline in money in the countryside
• Less taxes and less consumers
• Services suffer and shops close

Rural Rebranding Strategies:

1. Specialist food products with local identity e.g Devon Cream
2. Food towns and specialist markets e.g Ludlow
3. Off-Farm Diversification e.g woodland developments such as paintballing
4. Farming organic crops or growing herbs for use in food, cosmetics and drink industries
5. Development of rural energy e.g local hydroelectric schemes
6. Rural heritage and tourism
7. Arts and media projects
8. On farm tourism strategies e.g fishing, riding centres.
9. Rural industry such as specialist furniture, jewellery, high tech web design.
10. Valorisation: Adding value by sustainable improved use of a previously underused local resource

Off-Farm Diversification In More Detail:

• New or non-agricultural enterprises to increase income
• 40% farm income UK now from diversification!

Rural Rebranding Case Study: Grizedale Forest, Southern Cumbria:

• Forestry Commission are a key player
• Builds on what is already there such as the forest
• Brings in £18 million a year to the local area
• Some argue that the area is still dominated by seasonal summer visitors
• Farmers diversification
• GoApe – adventure capital activity is business key player
• ‘North Face’ mountain bike trails to increase tourism

Managing Rural Rebranding:

• Rural food markets e.g Hawkshead local food shops
• Farm diversification e.g Smithills /Hawkshead camping
• Heritage tourism e.g Grizedale tree art
• Sport & Excitement activities e.g GoApe & Mountain biking at Grizedale

How To Assess & Measure Auccess Of Rural Rebranding:

• Primary survey techniques
• Questionnaire surveys
• Facilities/shopping surveys
• Bipolar or quality surveys
• Usage/numbers surveys

Regeneration - Government Role in Regeneration

Regeneration:

• Regeneration is the process of improving an area or place that has experienced decline
• Regeneration overall aims to increase the ‘development’ of an area e.g. growth in GDP, growing population, improved infrastructure, higher living standards etc. and reduce deprivation
• It usually requires a financial investment (money) from public (council and government) or private (businesses, TNCs)
• Urban regeneration could include new infrastructure, improving housing areas (gentrification), new housing, more job opportunities and industry being created, and other improvements such as rebranding towns and reimaging places
• Rural regeneration is usually on a smaller scale, but again involves investment to improve transport, communities, tourism attractions, employment opportunities, or rebrand and reimage an area or place

The Key Players Of Regeneration:

• Public Sector Key Players: Government (top-down), councils, lottery and EU funding
• Private Sector Key Players: Business, companies and TNCs
• Voluntary: Local residents (bottom-up), charities

Hard Regeneration Vs Soft Regeneration:
Hard Regeneration:	Soft Regeneration:
Infrastructure	Skills
Buildings	Education
Money	Migration Policy
Resource Extraction	Planning Laws

Government Role In Regeneration:

1. Infrastructure investment such as railways and airports to improve access, connectivity, and therefore a multiplier effect e.g. links to Manchester Airport and High-Speed 2 (HS2) (through new interchange)
2. Improving the quality, amount and affordability of housing available to improve residents quality of life and disposable income e.g. Salford Quays
3. Developing new industries to create jobs and other benefits, such as permitting ‘fracking’ in Lancashire to improve gas supplies (energy security) and employment
4. Managing overall immigration – joining the EU trade bloc, allowing in other foreign nationals e.g. from Asia, to boost skills and economic growth e.g. 15% of Bolton is Asian ethnicity
5. Deregulation of capital markets (economic liberalisation) – encouraging FDI, globalisation, TNCs investment, and increasing trade and development

Flagship Schemes:

• These can be regeneration flag-ship, or just rebranding flagship schemes
• Flagship schemes are large-scale, prestigious projects, often using bold/innovative/radical/iconic/unique architecture.
• The hope is they will create a positive spin-off for the area e.g. attract more tourists, residents or businesses. i.e. create a multiplier effect
• Examples range from London Olympic Park (2012 games) to Bolton One

Pump Priming And Catalysts:

• Regeneration strategies hope to ‘pump prime’
• This means get the pump of economic improvement started…..
• Then a multiplier effect will hopefully take off! And the area will improve etc. with more residents, more jobs, better access, education, etc etc.
• Regeneration (or rebranding) can also be called a ‘catalyst’: a catalyst makes something e.g. development, happen much faster.
• Flagship schemes are catalysts for example that hope to ‘pump prime’ and areas regeneration

Infrastructure:

• ‘The basic physical systems of a place’:
• Economic infrastructure is roads, railways, energy distribution, water and sewage pipes, and telecommunication networks
• Social infrastructure is public housing (e.g. council), hospitals, schools and universities
• Governments often heavily involved with ‘infrastructure’ regeneration as it is so expensive, and so important in the long term for the UK

Government Led Regeneration Through Infrastructure Case Study:

• Flagship infrastructure regeneration costing £56 billion
• Aims to improve connectivity and therefore flows of tourism and business and skills to the North of England.

Positives:	Negatives:
Will allow for faster movement of migrants and workers	Expensive
Creates jobs	Puts pressure on the environment
Boosts the economy	Puts pressure on the community e.g noise pollution
	Some areas will miss out e.g Hull.

Government Role In Regeneration – Planning:

• Planning is the ‘the control of urban development by a local or national government authority, from which a licence must be obtained to develop properties or resources’.
• Government can plan in three ways:

1. Use of the land e.g. permit new infrastructure developments like offshore windfarms or allow HS2
2. Allow resource extraction e.g. Fracking in Lancashire
3. Encourage housing developments and relax planning controls to increase more housing

Government Policies On Migration And Deregulation Of Capital Markets:

• Governments set immigration policies e.g. as part of the EU, any migrants can come and work in the UK – Evaluate this
• Government in the UK has also promoted policies that encourage free trade, free markets, globalisation, TNCs, FDI, capitalism (all economic liberalisation) and these in turn increase economic activity to help develop and regenerate areas

Government Planning In Regeneration – Fracking In Lancashire:

• Fracking’ is extracting natural gas from the ground
• The TNC: Cuadrilla is a key player
• 100+ years of shale gas reserves

Positives:	Negatives:
Will regenerate urban and rural areas	Environmental impacts e.g ground water pollution
Will create up to 60k jobs producing income	Possibly small earthquakes
More consumerism	Puts pressure on small communities
Will improve living standards	Could cause conflict with locals.
Multiplier effect and will regenerate local skills

Regeneration - The Need: Why is Regeneration Needed

Lived Experience, Places And Engagement:

• Lived Experience: What it is like for people to have grown up or moved to a certain area.
• Engagement: How involved and active people are within an area, local community or processes such as studying, volunteering, working etc.
• Lived experience is different for people depending on their age, ethnicity, gender, length of residence there (e.g. students, locals, immigrants) and level of wealth/deprivation.

Attitudes, Engagement And Attachment To Places:

• In most areas there is a huge variety of attitudes due to the demographic variation in the area
• University students tend to have the most tolerant attitudes, and be very engaged in the local area with studies, working in part-time jobs, and for example being engaged politically, socially and with volunteering or local activities
• Elderly pensioner/retired single men or single immigrants who cannot speak English well are the most isolated (least engaged) in general
• However, longer term residents with housing in the area have the greatest attachment to a place and know more people, and so their attitudes might be more Bolton-focused, compared to students, temporary economic migrants, and some recent immigrants who have more of a globalised interest

The Need For Regeneration:

• Areas with low-quality ‘lived experience’ ideally need regenerating to improve the quality of lives, education, services, and create an upward spiral
• Areas with low engagement need regenerating to get the communities to participate and improve the area e.g. more people involved in work, community actions, volunteering etc.
• Areas where residents and locals feel less ‘attached’ to the place also need improving so people feel prouder and connected to the area, and this in turn creates more benefits e.g. they look after the environment better
• Regeneration in these areas will help reduce conflicts, deprivation, and get more people in the community being involved e.g. reducing unemployment, segregation, poverty, tensions etc.
• For example, new students attracted to University will work locally, bring in skills, spend money and be active in the community

Regenerating Due To Community Conflict:

• In many UK inner city areas there are diaspora (immigrants from other countries e.g. Poland, Bangladesh, Caribbean, Kenya etc).
• Often these nationalities are former UK ‘colonies’ from the British Empire period, or part of the EU trade bloc
• Racism and ethnic tensions might result due to factors such as a lack of understanding and education, lack of tolerance and ‘immigrants are to blame’ mindsets, and other problems such as language barriers
• There are increases in ‘hate crime’ attacks when certain groups e.g. Muslims are targeted by some people in response for example to ISIS terrorist attacks elsewhere
• Council and Police have worked hard to reduce a rise in knife crime attacks several years ago (although there were different reasons for these attacks)
• The biggest problem in central areas, as with any inner city area, is unemployment
• This can lead to the spiral of decline for individuals/families, or even whole community areas
• The lack of engagement, reduced education and segregation that can result from the poverty that unemployment can lead to, mean that often these areas have the lowest tolerance, highest hate crime, and more community tensions.

Graphs:

• In the North , there are more Indian ethnic minorities than the average number in England and Wales.
• Most of these ethnic minorities are in places 
• Deprivation is also high in these places
• The need to engage was high in the 60s and 70s as seen by turnout at elections but then it decreased going at its lowest in 2001. Now it is at a steady increase
• In most places, turnout is around 75% but around Greater London there are areas where the turnout is around 55%

Priorities To Be Dealt With When Regenerating:

• Lack of engagement and political representation
• Ethnic tensions
• Inequality
• Lack of economic opportunity

Regeneration - The Need: Introduction

• Economic inequality includes pay differences between jobs (high wage vs low wage) and how expensive an area is for people
• Social inequality includes differences in housing, education, social services, healthcare, environment quality.
• Perceptions are what people think of an area. What image or impression or ideas you have about it. Regeneration is needed when an area has huge social and economic inequality or in an area that people have a poor perception on
• Regeneration aims to improve an area economically, socially, and therefore also improve what people think of a reputation the area has.

Key Terms:

• Deindustrialisation: The change and movement of industries such as manufacturing from old MEDC centres to new centres in Asia
• Economic Restructuring/Global Shift: A change in the economy as it develops from primary and secondary industry to services in the UK
• Spiral Of Decline: Downward collapse of an area’s economy and social wellbeing.

Successful Region - San Francisco Bay Area:
Positives:	Negatives:
High average wage	Low deprivation
Education standards are high	Not enough skilled workers for low waged jobs
Inward migration from skilled professions	House prices are high
	Gender inequality in the work place
	Less investment in rural areas

Problems In CBDs:

• Traffic congestion and parking issues
• Perception: Polluted or unsafe
• Out of town shopping centres
• Rent costs are high
• Internet shopping

Decline Of Cotton Mills:

• Deindustrialised areas have suffered from economic restructuring e.g global shift and therefore a spiral of decline

Problems In Coastal Towns:

• Tourist numbers decline
• Lack of employment in winter
• Drug use, health problems
• Spiral of decline

Regeneration - The Place: Wider Connections

Main Reasons The North Has Developed:

• Industrial revolution
• Close to large labour force
• Access to cotton imports from transport like canals & railways
• Physical reasons like damp climate good for cotton
• Contrast to other places e.g. Dubai from oil and transport
• Scarborough tourism on coast & fishing
• Detroit car industry
• Shanghai SEZ

Recent Regional Influences:

• ‘The North’ of England historically has been very much based on industry. Regionally the North has suffered more from deindustrialisation.
• Investment from council e.g. Access developments with new Interchange
• Local business and developments e.g. Market place
• Transition Fair Trade town
• College and university students e.g. more diversity, more young people, e.g. STEM centre
• Sports developments funded by NHS, Council and SportsEngland

Recent National Influences:

• The UK as a whole is a ‘post-industrial economy’: i.e. now mainly a tertiary or service-based economy
• Government investment e.g. Bolton One (NHS)
• Government policy on immigration – more foreign nationals moving in from Africa and Asia
• New bus station (Council, private & government partnership approach)
• Education investments
• Fairtrade mark – national scheme
• TNCs and IGOs – Bolton part of ‘economic liberalisation’ of UK

International & Global Reasons:

• Fairtrade scheme
• International students – far more foreign students around Bolton from around the world.
• Economic migrants

TNCs & IGOs:

• Many towns are now more of a ‘clone town’ due to TNC players such as McDonalds, Globalisation of brands outcompetes local brands but causes cultural erosion of places
• Inter-governmental organisations like the IPCC have more of an impact to increase renewable energy to cut climate change.

Identity Changes From Social & Economic Change:

• Some groups feel more tolerant, interact more, benefit from different diversity e.g. public sector, NHS workers, students
• Some groups might be more racist and even extreme, e.g. white national groups
• Rich and poor divide can be quite strong between different areas e.g. South vs North UK

Regeneration - The Place: Changes Over Time

• The function of a place is what that place actually does or what it is used for
• Different settlements can have similar and different functions
• The typical functions of an inner city: Shopping, banking services and council buildings for managing the city
• Places such as Bolton was mainly a cotton industry area, but the function changed due to industry change, now the function is more services whereas in the past it was manufacturing.

Demographic Characteristics:

• Demography: Study of population
• Age structure of Manchester is similar to that of the UK
• Manchester has an increasing ageing population
• Ethnic diversity is also increasing
• Gentrification: The process of renovating and improving a house or district so it conforms to the middle class. In Bolton this is happening to housing estates
• Manchester is now more diverse leading people to identify themselves with new nationalities. But some groups feel isolated e.g African neighborhoods
• Religion diversity has increased. Caucasian groups tend to be Christian, there has been an increase in atheists and other religions. Finally the ageing population has increased

Reasons For The Change:

• Physical factors
• Accessibility & connectedness = more immigrants
• Historical developments: Global shift, decline of cotton and the inner city
• Role of the local and national key players: Council and government spending on education, improving healthcare.

Regeneration - The Place: How & Why Places Vary

• UK economy is now post-industrial: Past the period of primary and secondary industry being a major part of the economy.
• As the UK develops to the highest level, the manufacturing and industry declined. More automation, industry moves overseas e.g global shift, people that don’t want have labour jobs
• The tertiary or service sector increases such as banking, tourism and shopping
• More quaternary industry jobs such as research and development, pharmaceuticals
• Manchester were cotton mills in the 1800s (secondary industry) which has declined
• Part-time, temporary employment has increased in Manchester
• More self-employed workers e.g market traders
• 73.3% employed was the highest level of employment in the UK

Manchester: Employment & Social Factors:

• Historically has been low in Manchester
• Global financial crisis 2008 led to unemployment increased a bit and output (how much is produced) has reduced
• Inner city is traditionally a poorer area and has slightly higher unemployment
• Social indictors: Health, life expectancy, education levels are all low in the inner city
• Similar to areas such as Detroit in the USA where the inner city has declined and social factors (crime, unemployment) has increased
• San Francisco, USA is an affluent area with a large amount of TNCs and n high standard of living.

Where Are The Most Deprived Areas:

• Tend to be inner city areas that have deindustrialised
• Leads to economic and social problems such as lack of income, falling living of standard than deprivation
• Coastal and rural areas also deprived due to declining tourist numbers and low investment.

What Is Regeneration:

• The long term upgrading an existing places or more drastic renewal schemes for urban, residential, retail and industrial and commercial areas as well as rural areas. This sometimes includes conservation to preserve a specific identity.

How Have Local Economies/Employment Sections Changed In The UK:

• Places have become less parochial where people have less ties to a place
• Places embrace growth employment sectors have become winners

How Does Economic Activity Vary:

• Full time employment is at 18.4 million, vs 9-million-part time

Economy And Employment Affecting Social Factors:

• Affects us all: health, life expectancy, levels of education
• Measured by employment and outputted by LQ (an area specialising in a specific sector). A high LQ will decline over time e.g steel industry.