Outcomes from Community Engagement in Urban Regeneration: Evidence from England's New Deal for Communities Programme

Lawless, Paul; Pearson, Sarah

doi:10.1080/14649357.2012.728003

Cited by 42 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…local strategic partnerships). Respondents were also aware that over time the NDC programme lost importance and visibility within central government, a process also commented on by the NET: 52 I think early doors it was very much a community leading the NDC programme and I think over time perhaps some of the rhetoric at a national level changed, communities being part of that. Staff member, type C, EH1d…”

Section: The Impact Of Political and Policy Contexts On Approaches Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[49][50][51] Like other policy initiatives at the time, therefore, the NDC programme had a strong focus on CE, reflecting the wider trend of intensifying citizen participation in both UK and international public policy. 52 The theory of change underpinning CE in the NDC and other policy initiatives emerged from the Social Exclusion Unit in the Cabinet Office and assumed that engaging the communities of NDC areas in developing and delivering local programmes would overcome problems of social exclusion and promote social cohesion, hence reducing crime and incivilities, and would also make services more responsive to local needs and hence increase access and effectiveness. 48 An analysis of NDC policy guidance and strategy undertaken by Wright and colleagues 51 midway through the programme positioned the NDC as 'an attempt to reconnect deprived neighbourhoods with the rest of Britain .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact on health inequalities of approaches to community engagement in the New Deal for Communities regeneration initiative: a mixed-methods evaluation

et al. 2015

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BackgroundThis study was set in 39 neighbourhoods involved in a government-funded regeneration programme called New Deal for Communities (NDC) that began in 1998. We tested whether or not different approaches to engage residents in decision-making in these areas had different social and health impacts.MethodsFirst, NDC approaches to community engagement (CE) were grouped into four types. We then assessed the impact of these types and whether or not their cost-effectiveness could be calculated. We used existing data from surveys and from NHS and government sources. New data were collected from interviews with residents of NDC areas and former staff. We have also made these data publicly available so that other researchers can assess impacts over a longer time period.ResultsThe four CE types included an empowering resident-led approach (type A), in which residents had a lot of control over decisions, and an instrumental professional-led approach (type D), in which CE was more often used to promote the priorities of public sector organisations. Type B was initially empowering but over time became instrumental and type C balanced empowerment and instrumental approaches from the beginning. There were few statistically significant differences in health and social impacts by CE type. However, when there were statistically significant differences, the results suggest that type A, and to a lesser extent, types B and C approaches may have had better outcomes than the type D approach in relation to levels of participation and trust between residents, control or influence over decisions, social cohesion and mental health. NDC areas with a type D approach were the only ones where residents’ ‘sense of control’ deteriorated over time. Residents of these areas were less likely to feel that the NDC had improved their area and to experience improvements in mental health. However, some aspects of cohesion and trust improved in type D areas. The findings of our economic analyses are mixed. It was difficult to cost engagement activities, measures of effectiveness were not robust and relating costs that could be calculated to specific measures of effectiveness was difficult. There were almost as many negative as positive scores, making the calculation of cost-effectiveness an arbitrary exercise.ConclusionsOur results are consistent with a theory that the greater the levels of control that residents have over decisions affecting their lives the more likely there are to be positive impacts. It is plausible that an empowerment approach to CE would help build trust and community cohesion, and that having a greater influence over NDC decisions could lead to more people feeling that the NDC initiative had improved an area. Conversely, our results are also consistent with a theoretical position which suggests that instrumental approaches, which try to engage residents in agendas that are not theirs, will have relatively little positive impact and that community cohesion and well-being may be undermined. The study has not produced firm evidence on the effectiveness of different approaches to CE. However, the findings do suggest that programmes involving CE will be more likely to have positive impacts if the approaches to CE are experienced as more empowering and less instrumental (i.e. less focused on the agendas of external agencies). Future methodological research is needed to develop better measures of empowerment at the collective level and more robust approaches to empowerment on health and well-being at the population level.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme.

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Section: The Impact Of Political and Policy Contexts On Approaches Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact on health inequalities of approaches to community engagement in the New Deal for Communities regeneration initiative: a mixed-methods evaluation

et al. 2015

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“…Although local communities played a much bigger role than in previous initiatives, this did not result in "community empowerment" (Lawless, 2011, pages 527-28), and "regeneration activity had relatively little to do with change" (Lawless and Beatty, 2013, page 955). Moreover, " NDC evidence points to the limited ability of neighbourhood-level initiatives to address many of the problems affecting these localities, and the limited scale of direct resident involvement in regeneration activities" (Lawless and Pearson, 2012, page 523).…”

Section: State-led Empowermentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the State Empower Communities through Localism? An Evaluation of Recent Approaches to Neighbourhood Governance in England

Bailey

Pill

2015

Environ Plann C Gov Policy

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Abstract. 'Empowerment' is a term much used by policy makers with an interest in improving service delivery and promoting different forms of neighbourhood governance. But the term is ambiguous and has no generally accepted definition. Indeed, there is a growing paradox between the rhetoric of community empowerment and an apparent shift towards increased centralisation of power away from the neighbourhood in developed economies. In this paper we explore the literature relating to empowerment and identify two broad conceptions which reflect different emphases on neoliberalism. We go on to discuss two models illustrating different levels of state intervention at the neighbourhood level and set out evidence from two neighbourhood councils in Milton Keynes in central England. In conclusion, it is argued that those initiatives which are top-down, state-led policy initiatives tend to result in the least empowerment (as defined by government), whereas the bottom-up, self-help projects, which may be partly state enabled, at least provide an opportunity to create the spaces where there is some potential for varying degrees of transformation. Further empirical research is needed to test how far localist responses can challenge constraints on empowerment imposed by neoliberalism.

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“…We find that to avoid naïve interpretations, participation should be approached from the points of view of the inhabitants' own lifeworlds and their general motives in different place-based situations (e.g. Davoudi & Cowie, 2013;Lawless & Pearson, 2012;Leino, 2012). However, we also hold that an understanding of the reality of planning and decision making -as it is construed by the actors of public administration -is equally vital (e.g.…”

Section: Participation Policies In the Context Of Administrative Reformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 concerning the degree to which they can be seen to define significant places and important issues for inhabitants in general (e.g. Bäcklund, 2007;Hajer, 2003;Kallio et al, forthcoming;Lawless & Pearson, 2012;Leino & Laine, 2012). Since normative steering highlights the role of elected representatives in bringing out the inhabitants' point of view and demands depoliticized -expert-based -planning knowledge, there is no specific demand for residents' direct participation within planning practices.…”

Section: Administrative Steering Modes and The Idea Of Participation:mentioning

confidence: 99%

Residents, customers or citizens? Tracing the idea of youthful participation in the context of administrative reforms in Finnish public administration

Bäcklund

Kallio

Häkli

2014

Planning Theory & Practice

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Outcomes from Community Engagement in Urban Regeneration: Evidence from England's New Deal for Communities Programme

Cited by 42 publications

References 70 publications

The impact on health inequalities of approaches to community engagement in the New Deal for Communities regeneration initiative: a mixed-methods evaluation

The impact on health inequalities of approaches to community engagement in the New Deal for Communities regeneration initiative: a mixed-methods evaluation

Can the State Empower Communities through Localism? An Evaluation of Recent Approaches to Neighbourhood Governance in England

Residents, customers or citizens? Tracing the idea of youthful participation in the context of administrative reforms in Finnish public administration

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