ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the results of case study research into two urban regeneration programmes: the North Belfast Housing Strategy in Northern Ireland, and the Ballymena regeneration initiative in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It reviews the promotion of public participation in urban regeneration programmes and sustainable development policies in both Irish jurisdictions. The Bruntland Report explains that "sustainable development is not a fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change" which includes economic, social and environmental factors; and that implementation requires "a political system that secures effective citizen participation in decision-making". The framework acknowledges that factors affecting uneven interaction may be found at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels of society and may be social or economic in origin. The consultation process in North Belfast was not flexible and open enough to negotiate change, primarily due to the wider socio-environmental context within which it operated.
