ABSTRACT
Since the inception of this volume and the writing of each respective chapter, the world has indeed changed. It is something of a rhetorical statement and undoubtedly through hindsight we will know for sure, but it seems that the fi nancial crisis to hit the world in the second half of 2008 represents a major discontinuity. This will have an impact on regeneration and has already been seen initially through the slow grinding to a halt of some major physical redevelopments. Perhaps the main impact will occur through what Nicolas Sarkozy has allegedly called the end of the dictatorship of the market, opening up a new debate on the role of state intervention and aligning once again the word ‘political’ with ‘economy’. The recent fi nancial crisis is a good reminder if one was required that the context and scale of regeneration is dynamic in character, and in this chapter we are able to refl ect on the international perspectives offered by authors and to take into account a number of common traits they have each identifi ed.
