ABSTRACT
This chapter explores British adaptations of urban regime theory and identifies major limitations in the transferability of the concept from the USA to the UK. It discusses a distinction between different types of partnership, of which regime governance is a specific case. The chapter explains the factors which produced urban regeneration partnerships in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and focuses on the conditions in which regime governance might develop in the UK. The governing arrangements described as 'urban regimes' in the UK vary widely. This variety has made it difficult to compare the work of different scholars, and it has led to criticism of approaches which are perceived to misapply regime theory. The chapter considers the relationship between regime governance and different aspects of partnership working. Gerry Stoker identifies three types of partnership. He distinguishes between principal-agent relations, inter-organisational negotiation and systemic co-ordination.
