Table of contents

Addressing practitioners

From the start of ENTRUST, the role of the private sector has been considered a formidable challenge. The name ENTRUST reflects this importance: Empowering Neighbour-hoods Through Recourse of Urban Synergies with Trades. We have found that the private sector is not regarded as a natural partner in regeneration; for many in the private sector regeneration is seen as a public sector activity. History is on their side – the private sector has been ignored, sidelined and in some cases removed from neighbourhoods.

Or it has only been seen as a provider of jobs, and not as a contributor to the general wellbeing of the neighbourhood, or as a stakeholder with its own needs and aspirations.

But the world is changing. We are beginning to recognise the important role of the private sector, and the questions that are being asked now relate to how to we get the sector involved. That is where this guide fits in. The guide answers 23 questions in four parts

• on definitions; strategic goals – a common understanding of what we mean when we talk about the involvement of the private sector in neighbourhood regeneration;

• on developing relationships and visions – as with any other stakeholder;

• on the changes the public sector needs to make – do we need to change out think-ing and attitudes?

• on how to get the private sector involved – what are the instruments and activities that have been successfully used elsewhere?