ABSTRACT
The idea of regulating capitalist cities emerged in the late nineteenth century. The disastrous consequences of unregulated urban growth became apparent to politicians and reformers in terms of health and quality of life in large cities throughout Europe and North America. It was within this historical and geographical context that formal planning systems began to emerge. If the planning system is thought of as a regulatory framework guiding the development of places, we can also recognise a more proactive set of interventions designed primarily to ameliorate against the negative consequences of urban decline. These interventions, termed ‘urban regeneration’, seek either to support vulnerable communities and localities through the redistribution of resources to them on the basis of need, or to promote growth and development and through this improve the lot of those most in need. This chapter aims to provide both an overview of major trends in urban
policy and regeneration since the 1970s but also to outline a framework through which urban policies, regeneration initiatives and individual projects may be studied.
