Identity and diversity

Most deprived residential districts have problems with their identity. They have a bad image, which has a self-reinforcing effect. Owing to serious segregation, the districts' residents are so-called low-resource people. The projects are very much about improving the districts' reputation so that the present residents can be proud of living there - even when they find work or get a spouse or partner and children.

At the start of a project the planners are always faced with a dilemma; to obtain public funding one must stress the problems, but by doing that, the planners are themselves helping to increase the stigmatisation in the various districts. In Deventer, the planners have deliberately avoided this dilemma by working in all the city's districts at one and the same time. However, the available funds are distributed on the basis of need.

In almost all the other cases, however, the focus is on a single urban area. So it is important that there are also good stories to tell. The area's potential should therefore be analysed before work starts on a project.

In most cases, the aim is to achieve mixed districts - a mixture of housing and trade and industry, a mixture of forms of ownership and a mixed population. In some of the projects, the aim is explicitly to approximate the city's average.

In a few cases, on the other hand, one supports the unique character of the area - because the area tells the history of the city and its workers (as in Leipzig and Dublin) or because it characterised by ethnic life and enterprise as in Little Village in Chicago.

Regardless of the direction one wishes to take, it is important from the very start to have clear aims about the population groups one wants to have living in the area. Otherwise, rumours and uncertainty arise among the residents.

Identity

Little Village has many Mexican residents. Neighbourhood Housing Service of Chicago (NHS Chicago) has chosen to support this special characteristic. The Mexican culture has been emphasised through decorations on surfacing and facades, and Mexican architects have been hired in connection with the conversion of central urban spaces. As in other NHS projects, facade refurbishment and home ownership have been supported.

In Little Village, such convincing results have been achieved in 16 years that the office has been closed down.

The number of registered shops and consumer spending have doubled and the loan market has stabilised. The district is now known as a lively shopping area with a strong identity and close social networks.

Identity

Identity

The urban regeneration area Plagwitz in Leipzig contains many listed industrial buildings, including the local "Buntgarnwerke", which is Germany's largest listed industrial building from the boom years.

One of the aims is to recreate the possibility of using former factory buildings for a variety of purposes - commerce, service, retail trade, public offices, social institutions or housing. The historical identity is emphasised through the preservation-oriented regeneration what used to witness to depression and decay is now a sign of an area on its way up again.

Diversity

In Washington, socially burdened building has been demolished and is being replaced with a housing project with an assured mix of residents with different incomes.

1-34 units are being built, which will be owned by a cooperative, while 20 units will be sold on the open market. The income distribution in the 134 units will be strictly controlled.

33 of the units will go to families with 0-25% of the average income in the area. 34 are reserved for tenants with 25-50% of the average income in the area, and 67 will go to tenants with 50115% of the average income. All the tenants will pay 30% of their income in rent. This means that the highest paid will be paying for those with the lowest incomes. There is already a waiting list for the rental units, and there is a lot of interest in the freehold units as well.

One reason why this project is likely to succeed is the good and central location.

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