The key aims of this course are: (i) to provide a critical background in theories and concepts relating to urban and regional development; (ii) to provide knowledge of the changing role of urban policies in the UK; (iii) to develop understanding of the role of the state in addressing problems of geographical variations in standards of living; (iv) to provide practical examples of urban and regional policies and programmes; (v) to provide the critical and intellectual skills to appraise such policies.

By the end of the course students should: (i) have a thorough knowledge of the substance of regeneration and urban policies, particularly with regards to the UK; (ii) understand the interventionist rationale and role of the state and non-state actors in society and particularly in relation to local economic development; (iii) understand the political, contested, and contradictory nature of spatial policies and programmes.

The first half of the course will explore the roots and development of urban regeneration policies from the ‘Choketown’ conditions of the nineteenth century through to inner city problems of the twentieth century. The second half of the course will look at contemporary themes in regeneration and urban policy such as the role of community and the pursuit of ‘sustainable’ forms of regeneration.