Electronic Precinct - July 1999

'It's all down to the people'

Liverpool is one of four cities featured in a major new report published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the reactions of local people to urban regeneration schemes. The report, which draws on research from linked local studies in Liverpool, East London, Nottingham and Teesside, warns policy m akers that regeneration must build on local strengths or risk undermining the community and adding to the residents' sense of powerlessness.

The Liverpool study, 'Neighbourhood Images in Liverpool: It's all down to the people', looked at the attitudes of residents from Speke and the Dingle and was carried out by researchers from the University's Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Studies Department. (Helen Andersen, Ronnie Munck a nd John Lansley). Based on interviews with young and older people, women and tenants, the research programme examined the residents' own perceptions of the physical and social aspects of their neighbourhoods and the impact of existing regeneration initiatives.

Both Speke and the Dingle are in Pathway Partnership areas where a lot of regeneration is planned and where it is recognised that much has already been done, but the researchers found that many basic needs that other people take for granted, such as for shops, transport, housing repairs, access to employment and other social amenities, are not being satisfied. There was a widespread feeling that existing regeneration schemes did not allow for any significant community participation and that consultation was felt to be inadequate. It was clear from the study that for regeneration schemes to b e trusted their practical benefits needed to be delivered quickly and not 'decided by someone who doesn't even live here', as one Dingle resident commented.

The disadvantaged nature of these areas does not, however, preclude social cohesion and the study reveals that residents still have a sense of pride in where they live and especially in the people who make up their communities. This was reflected in the fact that many locals resented the negative l ight in which their neighbourhoods were presented to the outside world and the labelling of residents that goes with this; 'They think we are all dead common and rough.... That MP [Paddy Ashdown] came to Speke and said it was like Sarajevo...' Women were found to play a major role in maintaining an d developing the social networks that hold these communities together and despite the decline the areas have experienced there is still a considerable amount of optimism regarding the possibility of progressive social change. There was real confidence in both neighbourhoods that they knew what need ed to be done to improve things and it was the people and their social networks that were the key to regeneration.

However it was also identified by the study that the top-down nature of urban regeneration schemes does not adequately tap into local enthusiasm and resources or respond to what local people think needs to be done. This has led to disillusionment amongst residents and suspicion of regeneration effo rts that fail to involve the very people they are trying to help. The overriding feeling was that: 'People feel let down and don't feel their input is valued' and, as one Dingle community worker commented: 'Consultation is a poor thing. Involvement from the beginning is by far preferable...' The re sidents felt that if anything was to be achieved they would have to do it themselves. 'Its all down to the people', a comment from a resident that became the title of the study, captures the belief expressed by many of those consulted that the needs and potential of the people and communities invol ved need to be taken into account if urban regeneration of disadvantaged areas is to become sustainable.

The people of Speke and the Dingle whether young or old have a real commitment to their neighbourhoods and have struggled for many years to achieve some transformation in the face of countless setbacks and frustrations; this has not led to widespread apathy and resignation but a heightened sense of community and optimism: 'deep down we still believe that something can be done.' The main findings of the University of Liverpool researchers were echoed in the research from the other three cities involved in the JRF report which calls on professionals in central and local government to ensure th at residents have genuine opportunities to influence the way that their neighbourhoods develop and hopes to inform changes in regeneration policy and practice which would reinforce a sense of local community.

A copy of the Liverpool report 'Neighbourhood Images in Liverpool: 'It's all down to the people' by Helen Andersen, Ronnie Munck and colleagues is available from The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, The Homestead, 40 Water End, York, YO30 6WP.