ABSTRACT
Effective and sustained recovery requires that localities do more than just create the impression of recovery. Not only must the surface appearance of an area be transformed but also so must the underlying economic characteristics that created the need for regeneration in the first place. The impacts of national or international economic decline are mediated at a local level. Their outcomes are not fixed or predetermined. Rather they depend upon the interaction of wider processes and local characteristics, be they economic, social, cultural and/or political. If these local characteristics are left untouched by regeneration then the future fortunes of places in relation to the impact of external forces are likely to remain similarly untouched. The conclusion must be that regeneration of this type is largely cosmetic.
