Learning the lessons of property-led regeneration: Maximising the employment legacy of major physical developments

Abstract

The UK’s Urban Development Corporation property-led regeneration of the 1980s and 1990s has been widely criticised for its failure to leave an employment legacy for local communities. The trust placed in the jobs from major physical developments ‘trickling down’ to neighbouring deprived communities has been proved misguided. However, despite these past failings, there still remain regeneration projects based around major physical developments that proceed without an explicit employment legacy aim. To help address this, this paper revisits the lessons from 1980s and 1990s property-led regeneration policy and tests these against 13 local employment interventions linked to major physical developments across England and Scotland. In assessing whether the lessons remain valid, the paper identifies the practical steps taken to maximise the local employment legacy from the 13 major physical developments, which in turn will help to inform future interventions.