Assessing the effectiveness of the Townscape Heritage Initiative in regeneration

Abstract

The impact on land use of area-wide regeneration spending related to historic conservation is largely under-researched. This paper is intended to make a contribution to this subject within the context of conservation studies. It arises out of the findings from a longitudinal investigation into the more general impact of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Townscape Heritage Initiative across the UK. This research has examined 16 cases where significant investment has been made in the built fabric in order to improve the townscape and other aspects of the heritage. Through an analysis of changes in land use mapped at three points over a ten-year period, the paper presents findings from a selection of seven of these cases, and highlights patterns of change in terms of land use, and the relationship between newly prioritised uses and their ‘fit’ with the historic identity of place. The value of the research lies both in these generalisable findings and in the methods described to arrive at them.