Bob Blackaby

Public Participation and Urban Renewal - Theoretical Issues and a Local Study

The most popular context for studies of public participation in Britain has been in the field of urban p lanning . ( 1) More often than not, studies have criticised the ’f ailure’bf planners to positively participate with working class residents (Dennis 1972; Davies, 1972). Other studies have examined the diversity of opinions which influence planners’(and public’s) view on the practicability of involving the public in the preparation of plans (Drake et al, 1975). But studies of public participation have varied enormously, and whilst different

From Theory to Method

In the previous chapter we outlined a general theoretical perspective which could inform a number of actual empirical investigations. We should again stress the point that in common with most research practice, rather than the formal models of many textbooks, the interplay between theory and practice in our study was continuous; what we have summarised is our developing perspective during the process of research. That process contained empirical elements which influenced and were influenced by the readings and ideas that we have described.

On Theory and Urban Sociology

This book is structured around close and careful scrutiny of events and issues in four neighbourhoods in the inner city areas of Birmingham between 1971 and 1974. We believe that what occurred is of relevance for a general understanding of urban problems and policies in Britain in the 1970s and that similar stories could be told about many other cities in modern Britain. Of course, there are special features about Birmingham, its size and history, which need to be grasped to make full sense of what was happening and to these we have drawn the reader’s attention in the text. But it is in the hope that the specifics of time and place can aid more general understanding that we have constructed this book around four case studies. They are the evidence for our more general statements, assertions and judgements.

Case Study 3: Saving for Improvement

Our third case study is concerned with the redevelopment process, the introduction of house and area improvement policies, and with allocation policies regarding the use of older homes by the local housing department. The scale is smaller here; we are concerned with the fate of a small block of some 100 houses which were once within the boundaries of an area for comprehensive redevelopment so designated, like that in the previous chapter, in 1955.

The State and the Housing Question

Our four case studies have been concerned with a brief period in one city’s involvement with the housing question. In this concluding chapter we will seek to point out significant common themes from the four studies and suggest how they may indicate general features of the situation rather than merely applying to Birmingham. We will do this with reference to those theoretical considerations outlined in the first chapter.

Case Study 4: Participation in an ‘Action Area’

Our final case study is concerned with an area whose future appears to rest with the efficacy of policies by which older homes are improved and maintained with grant aid to prevent their decay and obsolescence. As our case study will show a key to the success of such policies is as much a matter of confidence as it is of the availability of sufficient resources; and in attaining confidence the ability of residents to participate in the replanning of the neighbourhood will play an important part. So this case study looks in detail at the attempts of residents to participate and at the effects and consequences of their participation.

Case Study 2: Residents’ Action in a Redevelopment Area

In the last chapter we noted that one aspect of the ‘plight’ of ordinary applicants on the waiting list for council houses appeared to be their relative low priority for available lettings, the cream of which in number and quality went to those families affected by comprehensive redevelopment and slum clearance. We also noted that in our period of study there was a slump in new council building over demolitions so the relative position of ordinary applicants worsened.

Case Study 1: Queueing for a Home

Above we have sketched the development and the size of Birmingham’s housing stock, whose creation and administration has been so predominant a feature of the city’s government. The housing stock ranges widely in age, size and type and is situated within the city’s fifty miles of boundary and beyond.