consultation

The notion of community participation is, in this age of continuous urban regeneration, a must-have element of any self-respecting public development. The actual practice of public participation, however, varies widely from scheme to scheme.

This variation ranges from tick-box tokenism to organised, effective community leadership. In most cases, it is dependent on the individuals concerned. Strong, effective community leadership is frequently the key to success in community eyes.

The outcomes from RUDI's recent community engagement debate, featuring a powerful residents organisation, a community planner and a council officer, make interesting reading...

Lucy Tennyson reports from the latest in the series of neighbourhood seminars run by the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) in locations across the UK in which delegates are invited to take part in a hands-on day of multi-disciplinary holistic masterplanning. The latest Re:Invigorate session took place in Bristol, focusing on two contrasting neighbourhoods in the city, each facing differing regeneration issues: Filwood/Knowle West, a large, sprawling housing estate on the edge of the city, and St Paul''s, an ethnically mixed inner city area

At a time when, thanks to Bob Geldof and Live8, the McCartney sisters in Ireland and Jamie Oliver's school dinners, the public is increasingly sidelining politicians and taking matters into their own hands, the government is facing a barrage of requests to get to grips with major urban design issues.