Posts Tagged ‘deprived area’
Deprived Urban Areas: RegGov Infographic
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Gentrification versus Working Class Neighbourhoods
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Darinka Czischke, Thematic Expert of the URBACT SUITE project gave the last of this season’s series of lectures sponsored by the European Housing Forum in Brussels on the 29th of June. It was in fact the 4th lecture organised under the theme “Changing Lifestyles, Changing Climate – The role of Housing in the EU”.
The lecture and debate which followed focussed on a wide-ranging examination of gentrification as an urban phenomenon – and the many facets which influence, or are influenced, by this dynamic in our cities. The question of how to live together in socially diverse cities was set alongside the values which can follow a process of gentrification (regeneration, creation of new opportunities) as well as the costs which can result in terms of population displacement and functional mutation. Important links were identified with densification, consequences of sprawl or compact city, and with the notion of social mix, does proximity bring integration or simply co-existence? A pertinent categorisation of “Urbanites”, “Suburban leavers” and the “Trapped” highlighted the tensions being experienced in terms of socio-spatial segmentation or integration in many of our urban contexts. Furthermore the relationships between social mix, (housing) tenure mix, income mix and functional mix were considered in relation to the negative associations which often prevail between low-income concentrations and housing tenure – generating residualisation and stigmatisation of social housing neighbourhoods and communities. The role of gentrification in improving or aggravating such trends proved to be a vibrant subject of discussion.
The presentation was also illustrated by examination of well-chosen though northern European cases drawn from Darinka Czishke’s research experience both in the London School of Economics and with CECODHAS. Utrecht provided two contrasting examples in Hoograven and Leidsche rijn together with a revealing analysis of 5 London neighbourhoods. The topic covered here is one which particularly parallels concerns shared by projects in the URBACT “Quality Sustainable Living” area of expertise but certainly not exclusively. So it may be interesting to consult the powerpoint presentation which will appear in due course on the EU housing Forum website and/or make contact with Darinka Czishke via the SUITE project website.
It is the intention of the European Housing Forum to produce a report based on the material covered by all 4 lectures in this series and this should appear for general consumption in the autumn of this year. So for those interested to learn more I would advise – “watch this space!”
Read more:
Philip Stein
Thematic Pole Manager
4th RegGov Newsletter: Regional Governance of Sustainable Integrated Development of Deprived Urban Areas
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
The RegGov project has published its 4th-reggov-newsletter. The fourth issue of the RegGov newsletter focuses on the core work within the RegGov project. The first three of four cluster meetings with defined topics have already taken place. Therefore, RegGov partners involved in the accordant clusters contribute their impressions of the meetings and give a brief overview on the two-day meetings with their contents and discussions. Each of the RegGov cluster meetings followed a Local Support Group meeting (LSG) which the Lead Partner Brigitte Grandt and Petra Potz, the Lead Expert, attended. As result of the LSG meetings, an article within this newsletter describes the processes of participation in integrated neighbourhood development, directly from the local level. One further highlight of the newsletter is the article on the integrated urban development plan of the city of Satu Mare which represents a good practice example of the RegGov network. At the end, the newsletter closures with interesting news related to the RegGov network.
Dominik Erbelding
RegGov Communication Officer
“Behind the Front Door” – outreaching social support in the Netherlands
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
In the Netherlands there is one form of outreaching social support that has increasingly been applied in the past few years. It is generally addressed as the ‘behind the front door’ method. Professionals using this method actively and directly approach marginalised people to find and help them with their
most important problems. This new method has been widely applied in the Dutch ‘neighbourhood approach’. It is supposed to encourage cooperation within the social sector. In a recent literature study of Nicis Institute, commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, different experiences within the ‘behind the front door’ approach have been collected.
Behind the front door
The ‘behind the front door’ method is applied in a wide variety of projects and policy fields. This study includes the following working areas:
- Housing
- Debts, nuisance and abusive situations
- Education
- Family support
- Elderly people living independently
- Domestic violence
Main conclusions
- There is a growing tendency in the Netherlands to use a certain degree of force when it comes to preventing people from falling down the social ladder;
- Discussion about the ‘behind the front door’ approach mainly concern accountability and home visits. These visits should always be legitimate and well-founded;
- Most of the professionals using and clients ‘receiving’ the ‘behind the front door’ method are very positive about it;
- For multi-problem families the ‘behind the front door’ method has turned out to be very useful, because they often do not ask for help or do not know where to go;
- The ‘behind the front door’ method is a good way to spot social problems. However, the method does not seem to be the answer ;
- The ‘behind the front door’ method can only deliver lasting effects if the entire structure of social support is improved.
For more information, download the report (NL) about the ‘behind the front door’ method here
Read more:
- Dutch Bi-Annual Report – PDF
Simone Pekelsma
Nicis Institute
3rd RegGov Newsletter online!
Monday, April 26th, 2010
The RegGov project has published its third newsletter. The third edition of the RegGov newsletter starts with a statement from Merja Haapakka, representative of the European Commission (DG Regio) and contact person for the RegGov project, in which the importance and expectations of the Regional Policy is stressed. Afterwards the Managing Authority from the Province of Gelderland (Netherlands) and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) explain their experiences and expectations in regard to the RegGov Fast Track Network.
After a brief report on the Extraordinary Partner Meeting with representatives of the European Commission and the head of the URBACT Secretariat held in Duisburg (Germany) in February 2010, two contributions of the RegGov partners Satu Mare and Nyíregyháza present their practical experiences relating to the work with their Local Support Group. At the end, the newsletter closures with interesting news concerning the RegGov network.
Dominik Erbelding
RegGov Communication Officer
2nd RegGov Newsletter
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
The RegGov project has published its second RegGov Newsletter ( 2nd-reggov-newsletter1 ). This Newsletter informs briefly on two implemented network seminars – the 2nd Thematic Seminar in Nijmegen (Netherlands) and the Joint Seminar for Managing Authorities and the European Commission in Budapest (Hungary). Afterwards an article about the project “NRW Fit for Europe” presents as a practice example how North Rhine-Westphalia has implemented URBACT & EU dissemination and exchange on the regional level. Then an article of local experiences deals with the regeneration process of the “Kaufhaus” neighbourhood in Ruda Slaska (Poland). Two further contributions of our RegGov partners Södertälje (Sweden) and Siracusa (Italy) describe their practical experiences relating to the work with their Local Support Group and the development of a Local Action Plan. At the end, the newsletter closures with some interesting news.
Dominik Erbelding
RegGov Communication Officer
Expert Article of the RegGov Network
Friday, December 18th, 2009An expert article relating on the hot topics of the RegGov project has been published in Germany in July 2009 and is now translated.
The local media landscape in the city of Duisburg proves to be quite difficult when it comes to public relations and dissemination on the topic of urban development and European projects in urban renewal. Therefore, the RegGov Lead Partner Duisburg does not aim to reach only the wider public, but focuses its activities on specific articles addressing an expert public.
The first article relating on the RegGov project’s hot topics has been published in the sixth edition 2009 (general topic: “Social Cohesion in European Cities”) of the “Informationen zur Raumentwicklung (IzR) / Information on Spatial Development” which is the official magazine of the German “Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (BBR) / Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning”.
The English translation of this article is here available for download.
Dominik Erbelding
RegGov Project Co-ordinator and Communication Officer
1st RegGov Newsletter
Monday, November 30th, 2009The RegGov project has published its first newsletter. The newsletter of the RegGov network informs on the current stand of the project – the latest news, results and next steps of the project. Therefore it is more comprehensive than the subsequent ones. This first edition presents particularly the history of the network and gives an overview about implemented activities, the partner’s motivation to participate in the network and also finally sketch out the future plans. A report section, a Good-Practice-Guidance and also a calendar of the latest news and activities are scheduled as a series of articles for the subsequent newsletters. Concerning that, the initial article of the report section in this newsletter characterises the first round of the network’s cluster meetings and the initial article of the Good-Practice-Guidance deals with the Local Support Group and the Local Governance Model of the City of Duisburg to make practical experiences and good practice examples accessible to all partners.
Dominik Erbelding
RegGov Project Co-ordinator and Communication Officer
Are young Europeans indifferent ?
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009We sometimes hear that the young generations are selfish, passive and resigned, more interested in the last TV shows than in the world’s changes. And that they fear for their own future, not for the one of society.
The 45 young Europeans – associated to URBACT project MY Generation – who met in Rotterdam in April convey a completely different picture. They appear as involved, determined, and creative.
Coming from 11 European cities, mostly from deprived areas, they display a maturity and an energy which are precious for our cities.
But better than a long description, watch this video of their meeting…
Read more :
