Community-Led Regeneration

Urban Theory by and for Whom? Engaged Research, Authorship and Transformation Beyond the Academy

“…It was through Just Space and JSEP that I began to engage with London's economyboth the 'global city' perspective underpinning its official metropolitan strategies and plans, and the everyday and diverse economies which Just Space and its member groups knew, valued and campaigned in defence of. When my own university, University College London, proposed to build a new campus on the site of an existing council housing estate, Carpenters, in Stratford, east London, I was able to offer some support to residents and businesses' threatened with displacement to develop their own alternative proposals for the local economy as part of a wider community planning process supported by Just Space and the London Tenants Federation through their wider collaboration with Loretta Lees (London Tenants Federation et al, 2014;Sendra and Fitzpatrick, 2020;Taylor, 2024). These two experiences in turn inspired and shaped my engagement with the struggle over Seven Sisters Indoor Market (also known as the Latin Village) and Wards Corner in Tottenham, north London, both as an activist-researcher during my PhD studies and more recently as Board member of the Community Benefit Society set up to deliver the community plan.…”

The Economic Politics of Anti‐Displacement Struggle: Connecting Diverse and Community Economies Research with Critical Urban Studies on the Carpenters Estate, London

“…Housing has also been a focus of urban social movement research, alongside other sites of collective consumption such as public space, community facilities, and social infrastructure (Horton and Penny 2023;Leitner et al 2007). Previous research on the Carpenters Estate also reflects this housing focus (Watt 2013); while Sendra and Fitzpatrick's (2020) account acknowledges the involvement of local businesses, it does not explore this process or its impacts. Where critical urban scholars have engaged with businesses, the focus has been on the role of elite and powerful business and financial interests in securing neoliberal, capitalist, and financialised urbanisation (North et al 2001;Peck 1995;Wood 2004).…”

“…2014), several commercial buildings, two community centres, a primary school, and the Building Crafts College. The London Borough of Newham began exploring options for addressing problems with the quality and standard of homes on the estate in 2000, announcing in 2004 plans to demolish one of the tower blocks and re‐house residents elsewhere (Sendra and Fitzpatrick 2020). Several years later, in 2011, UCL announced a plan to develop a new campus on the site to support its growth in the context of declining government funding.…”

“…2007). Previous research on the Carpenters Estate also reflects this housing focus (Watt 2013); while Sendra and Fitzpatrick's (2020) account acknowledges the involvement of local businesses, it does not explore this process or its impacts. Where critical urban scholars have engaged with businesses, the focus has been on the role of elite and powerful business and financial interests in securing neoliberal, capitalist, and financialised urbanisation (North et al.…”

Engaged Urban Pedagogy

“…Before starting this course, one of the authors, Pablo Sendra, had collaborated with Just Space in the postgraduate modules coordinated by Elena Besussi -BPLN0033 Collaborative City Planning Strategies and BPLN0043 From Strategic Vision to Urban Plan. Pablo had also partnered with Just Space on the British Academy/ Leverhulme-funded research project 'Community-led social housing regeneration: between the formal and the informal', which resulted in the open-access book Community-Led Regeneration (Sendra and Fitzpatrick, 2020). These previous experiences informed the process for creating the Civic Design CPD.…”