From humble beginnings, urban regeneration companies have grown from three pilot studies to 16 fully fledged regeneration bodies in just five years. But what have they learned along the way, and what could those at the head of regeneration agencies learn from each other?
Estates Gazette sat down with two URC chief executives, both veteran regeneration experts – with between them more tyhan four decades of experience, but from very different backgrounds – and asked them to share their experiences.
Adam Wasserman, chief executive of Hull Citybuild, is new to the UK regeneration landscape, having spent 18 years in the US revamping Arlington – most famously, home to the Pentagon. The other, Bob Lane, chief executive of Catalyst Corby, has helped kickstart improvements in one of the most deprived areas of Liverpool, and overseen work in Brixton, south London.
EG: URCs were set up with to be short-lived bodies, with lifespans of between 7 to 10 years. With the original pilot schemes now nearing the five-year mark, is this still appropriate?
Lane thinks so, believing the companies should have a short, sharp impact. This is especially true with Catalyst Corby, as it falls under the government’s Sustainable Communities Plan – part of the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area.
“We want partners to own their own projects, so we haven’t got involved with the medium to long term” he says. Catalyst Corby has opted to project manage the rebuilding of the town centre but, over the long term, this will be handed back to the partners. “We are a short-lifespan, local delivery vehicle, and over the long term, we will be eyeing an exit strategy,” confirms Lane.
Wasserman agrees. “When I first came over I said, if they wanted a project manager I wasn’t the person they were looking for,” he says, adding: “I’m looking at the long term vision, and it would be easy to fall down the project management path. But then you would lose sight of that vision.”
EG: The concept of vision is never more critical for a URC than at the masterplan stage. But criticism has been levelled at some URCs for taking this to an extreme, and publishing plans which hint at a development’s “flavour” rather than a commercially deliverable and detailed scheme. Where should URCs draw the line, or should the only limit be its member’s imagination?
“Visionary,” says Wasserman. “It is part of a URC’s role to have a vision that is far beyond that of separate teams. That means larger expectations, but it also gives a sense of purpose,” he adds.
Lane says: “We are talking about areas that have lost their way, and they need something to look forward to. The second advantage of a visionary masterplan is that it gives a horizon to aim for. We are not going to change places overnight, and you have to explain that you are not going to deliver that masterplan overnight.”
But there are limits. Wasserman says: “There have to be specifics that are delivered so investors know where we are going.”
EG: Big-name architects have been part of this. But is this vital to raise the profile of an area or just the latest fad?
“You need some high quality architecture in public spaces. It is a vital part of regeneration,” says Lane. But that has to be tempered. “We don’t want to do that classic thing of providing new-town architecture and little else, because we have to produce change. We need quality, and we need that to be in keeping with the overall vision.”
Civic space is important, and delivering that early is key, he adds. “There is a huge danger that something will happen without us doing anything, but it will not be sustainable, and it will just repeat the previous mistakes.”
EG: What should some of the most blighted towns in the UK be aiming for. Should they turn to the café culture of Paris or the loft living professionals of New York for inspiration?
Wasserman is scathing. “I’ve been involved with a series of the new urbanist dwellings where they put together a package of apartments for yuppies in Hull. We are never going to get a café culture. That’s simply not going to be a byproduct.”
Lane nods sagely. “Adam is right. Corby is a working class town. We are not looking at café culture and gentrifying the place with loft apartments. We are growing the town’s diversity, but it has got to be methodical. There are no quick fixes.”
Regeneration in Hull will centre on the port. “The port is the only reason Hull exists as a city, and the traffic that runs through the city is because of that,” explains Wasserman. There are problems, but overcoming these will be worth it, he says. “We are looking at giving Hull a new front door, and we are developing projects with Rotterdam to get connections. That will give people a reason to be interested rather than just another adding new building.”
EG: URCs have no compulsory purchase orders, cannot hold land assets or put together financing cocktails. However, their founding partners do. Without these, are URCs all mouth and no teeth?
Both Lane and Wasserman shake their heads. Wasserman speaks first. “We are working in partnership but, in a sense, we are treading new ground and learning. I’m not sure it matters if that power sits with the URC or not. We work very well with our partners so we don’t need those resources.”
Ringfencing project funds to protect those resources sounds like a good idea in theory, says Lane, but he cautions: “The bad side is that it then limits those resources.”
Wasserman says that, compared with the US, the UK has much more support from central and regional governments which provide focused and significant funds. “That’s magical. It is awfully nice to have that backing. We are in new territory, and in Hull we are looking at the public sector as a investment partner rather than just an early stage adopter.”
EG: In terms of levels of investment pouring into commercial property, the URCs have little to complain about. But how difficult is it to gain access to it?
“The institutional investors are out there. Once more, we feel we should get on as quickly as possible. There is an opportunity and it is brilliant, but there is a pressure to do it quickly because it won’t be there forever.”
Wasserman agrees. “Look back over the past two recessions, and things just stopped overnight. We are living off a high point now that the global economy is churning away and interest rates are still low. We need to package that into deals and it is awfully exciting.”
EG: Could a stumble in the global economy or a crash in the UK’s housing market threaten this?
Lane nods, saying: “If it crashed, it would not stop us, but it would slow us down.” Land values have undoubtedly driven residential development. Lane says that demand has been strong for housebuilding in Corby but he warns: “We don’t just want to create a doughnut around the town by just building houses.”
Housebuying has been led by investors rather than occupiers in most town centres, admits Wasserman. “I worry that it is steeped in value creation and I’m not sure it is as sustainable as everyone thinks. It will plateau, and everyone should be aware of that.”
That is not to say that URCs should put a brake on residential development. “More residential means more people, which means more consumer spending and more pounds in the economy,” says Wasserman. “But we now need to spend time working on the economy and backfill the vacuum created, and that’s what Hull is now starting to do.”
Regeneration through retail is the government’s favoured way of kickstarting development. But in the US, shopping malls sprung up, but now their days are numbered. Is regeneration in the UK risking making the same mistake?
“Not a day goes by in the US without you hearing that another mall has closed, and the emphasis now is definitely on going back towards the city centre,” says Wasserman. “Patterns of urban growth of very different in the US to this country,” he adds, “but in terms of the style of regeneration, we are far ahead here.”
Lane defends the decision to put retail at the centre of regeneration plans. Pointing to Corby, Lane says the town suffers from up to 70% leakage of shoppers, and he believes low civic pride is at the heart of the matter. “You can’t attract investors into a town if the locals all say ‘it is a mess and has failed’. The level of scepticism in Corby took me aback, and there have been a lot of failed initiatives. We are spending a lot of time building local self confidence.”
Much of your work depends on assembling the best teams for the job. So how do you contend with the severe skills shortages in the regeneration field?
“Effeciencies could be attained within our partners to make sure our organisations are as streamlined as possible,” says Wasserman. “Simplify, simplify, simplify – that is what needs to be understood at all levels.”
Lane adds: “The local authorities are finding it very difficult to get good planners and surveyors, and that does affect some of the partners. Increasingly, this is being addressed by URCs operating with a lead agency taking control of each project. There is a certain amount of coordination and deliverability and, hopefully, then you are not competing for staff between the partners.”
