Territorial Milieu as Driver for Sustainability through Urban Regeneration Initiatives: The Case of San Diego, CA

Abstract

Abstract. Urban regeneration acquired a powerful role in the shaping of the future of the cities in the Globalization era. It could be considered a public action in a market governed by different powers introducing a more strategic approach in the contemporary urban planning theory and practice. If integration can be considered one of the main objective to get through urban regeneration, and complexity as the peculiarity of urban dynamics related to the context they belong to, we might see the community involvement as crucial toward sustainable urban regeneration initiatives. The intent of generating wider effects in terms of economic development at macro-level (regional thereby) through urban regeneration initiatives has been eluded by the strong local interests even if not homogenous among each others. In order to reach a feasible consensus among all actors involved, the common objective became the job creation to which converge all different urban problems and solutions. Consequently, the sustainability of urban regeneration initiatives is still at the centre of political and academic debate. Economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability provide criteria to measure the urban regeneration performance. The paper reports some interesting findings of the second year of the CLUDs (Commercial Local Urban Districts) research project, funded by IRSES Marie Curie Actions, illustrating how territorial milieu can reinforce local urban regeneration initiatives by combining the latest urban rural link research with the detailed analysis of 9 urban areas located in San Diego, CA (USA), where urban regeneration initiatives have been implemented. The CLUDs project has introduced the concept of "milieu" to offer a different source of sustainability within urban regeneration initiatives that is the connections with the surrounding rural areas to reinforce local economy.

Bidding for UK city of culture

“…Moreover, UKCoC1 highlighted that “local people are part of the delivery; they’re on the management of it, so it’s up to them to seize the opportunity”. This insight reinforces Bevilacqua et al ’s (2013) argument that it is the responsibility of local people to drive place legacies. However, with the absence of, by their own admission, a clear and robust consultation, it is perhaps difficult for residents to recognise their stakeholder rights as part of such a scheme.…”

Eye of Sustainable Planning: A Conceptual Heritage-Led Urban Regeneration Planning Framework

“…[47] Diagnosis [45] Formulation [48,49] Structure [17,43] Implementation [1] Evaluation urban regeneration projects that needs to be overcome. In addition, a lack of knowledge is identified as the most referred problem, as given in Table 2.…”

“…Relationship of identified phases with stakeholders by literature review. [47] Diagnosis [45] Formulation [48,49] Structure [17,43] Implementation [1] Evaluation Figure 8. Second version of the conceptual framework.…”

“…According to Bevilacqua et al [17], if integration is seen as one of the prime aims to succeed in urban regeneration and complexity, as the uniqueness of urban dynamics is correlated to the respective context, the involvement of community will be understood as essential towards the sustainable urban regeneration initiative. Their research project, named CLUD (Commercial Local Urban Districts), demonstrated that urban regeneration initiatives examined in the San Diego region generated benefits for the society relating to their local social needs through community involvement.…”