Mobilising Urban Policies: The Policy Transfer of US Business Improvement Districts to England and Wales

This paper examines the ways in which policies are transferred between places: how they are disembedded from, and re-embedded into, new political, economic and social contexts. To do this, the paper will draw upon a case study of the transfer of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) from the US to England and Wales. Within this, the paper demonstrates how they were a response to fiscal problems facing city-centre management in England and Wales; how US BIDs were socially constructed as `successful' and `transferable'; and how the BID `model' was reshaped prior to and following its rolling-out in England and Wales. The paper concludes by stressing six wider conceptual points about the nature of urban policy transfer

Young people, antisocial behaviour and public space: The role of Community Wardens in policing the ‘ASBO-generation’

The potential benefits of public space frequently translate into inequitable social and spatial outcomes for specific groups. Young people in particular are being excluded from public spaces through a range of explicit and implicit measures. In the UK, one significant trend constraining their ability to access such space is the extent to which they are commonly perceived as perpetrators of antisocial behaviour. The perceived levels of antisocial behaviour associated with the ‘ASBO-generation’ are exacerbating concerns over youths’ presence in, as opposed to absence from, public space. Synthesising new ethnographic research with existing debates about the relationship between young people, antisocial behaviour and public space, this paper argues that we need to address the multifarious discursive processes and material practices influencing young people’s use of public space. The paper demonstrates how, as opposed to eradicating young people from public space, Community Wardens in Dundee often provide them with the opportunity for positive and meaningful encounters with places (and people) in their local communities

The property development industry and sustainable urban brownfield regeneration in England: an analysis of case studies in Thames Gateway and Greater Manchester

The property development industry is a key actor in UK brownfield regeneration projects. UK policy has attempted to interlink ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainable brownfield’ policy agendas, which have found an additional focus through the UK government’s ‘Sustainable Communities Plan’, part of a growing international emphasis on sustainable development. This paper examines the emergence of these agendas and related policies, and the role of the property development industry in the regeneration of six differing brownfield sites, based in Thames Gateway and Greater Manchester. Using a conceptual framework, the paper investigates aspects of the sustainability of these projects and highlights key lessons from them for both the UK and overseas. The research is based on structured interviews with a variety of stakeholders, including developers, planners, consultants and community representatives to highlight emerging best practice and related policy implications

The ‘wolves’ and ‘lambs’ of the creative city: the sustainability of film and television producers in London

The paper shows that creative producers (businesses and individuals) are sensitive to the externalities of the urban environment, such as the state of public places and the street in particular. However, relation to the street differs for creative producers with different power positions and levels of embeddedness in street life. This suggests attention needs to move beyond the simplistic approaches of “mixed–use” and “vitality” ideals to an understanding of the complexity and continuity inherent in the production of creative spaces with respect to the multiple transactions of both the strong and weak stakeholders involved – the “wolfs” and “lambs.” The example used is the film and television industry in Camden Town, London, in relation to the “experience” economy, drawing on evidence from interviews with producers