New life to a fairer Scotland: Exploring 25 years of Scottish regeneration policy mechanisms

Abstract

In Scotland, the past 25 years has been a period of remarkable political and economic change. The 1992 closure of the Ravenscraig steelworks complex marked the end of a seminal industrial era. The 1999 opening of the Scottish Parliament was followed by the 2008 economic crash and the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. Under various Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Scottish National Party government administrations in Westminster and Holyrood, the period has also featured a considerable diversity of approaches aimed at supporting the regeneration of disadvantaged places. This year, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, SURF organised a series of special events to explore and debate the perceived impacts and value-for-money of the main regeneration policy mechanisms that have been applied during its lifetime. This paper features an overview of the context and purpose of selected mechanisms, and highlights the feedback provided by SURF network practitioners, policy-makers and academics through the anniversary programme discussions.