ABSTRACT
For more than 25 years the State has been experimenting with different formulations of urban policy. In all cases the targets, agencies and mechanisms for policy delivery have varied according to current conceptions of the nature of the problems to be tackled, the geographical location of the problems and which form of delivery mechanism is most appropriate to achieve the desired objectives. Throughout this period of experimentation there have been several fixed points that have defined the focus of policy. In the first place the target was the inner city: what were assumed to be definable areas near the heart of the major urban centres, where indices of deprivation indicated economic failure and social distress defined by out-migration, poor housing conditions, poverty and unemployment. Secondly, it was assumed that special programmes were needed to target areas of deprivation in order to eradicate or ameliorate aspects of deprivation. Thirdly, it was assumed that special delivery mechanisms, and in some cases new agencies, were needed to ensure that programmes and policies were co-ordinated and effectively delivered.
