How to align the interests of private and public sectors with the aspirations and needs of local citizens, businesses and communities.
‘The existing real estate-based regeneration model presents a conflict of interest between the short-term focus of many developers, the long-term issues facing the public sector, and the embedded local concerns of citizens, community and local business stakeholders”. So starts an essay by @Indy_Johar which is part of a collection of essays published by @CentreForLondon called Making Good – Shaping Places.
The essay goes to the heart of the RealWorth approach to working out the sustainable return on investment for developers and public sector decision-makers. Johar’s contention is that the surpluses generated by the sale or rent of property are no longer sufficient to cover the investment needed for social improvements to society. Meanwhile, the newer forms of social improvement investment are disconnected from physical regeneration programmes.
He says that regeneration programmes cannot be ‘the single arrow of physical redevelopment’ but instead they need to address the full economic, social and (RealWorth would add) the environmental potential for beneficial change.
Johar’s prescription is for an alternative economic model based on what he calls ‘the dark matter of next generation urban renewal’. It’s an effective mixture of inclusive democratic planning, and impact investment for pro-social outcomes. At the heart of his call for new thinking is the need to understand how and where to invest for sustainable returns. This is precisely why RealWorth was created – to give sound, evidence-based metrics to this aspiration and to help regeneration become a universal force for good.
Download the full collection of essays here… Indy’s piece starts at page 71, although there’s plenty to interest the reader in the other articles as well.
