Partnerships and Regimes: The Politics of Urban Regeneration in the UK by Jonathan S. Davies

Author:Jonathan S. Davies [Davies, Jonathan S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General, Social Science, Sociology
ISBN: 9781351745789
Google: roRHDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-11-22T04:38:51+00:00

Added Value in CityVision

The Manager of CityVision, while upbeat about the partnership, recognised that agreeing priorities and actions takes patient effort and that consequently, strong networks take a long time to build. He thought that CityVision has worked well, but that it will be 10 years or more before it is ‘truly effective’. This view is supported in a ‘stakeholder survey’, which suggests that limitations are slowly being overcome. It was argued, despite the weight of criticism, that the SRB has ‘opened doors’ to new leverage from the private sector, though CityVision has not been as successful in unlocking private sector money as it would have wished. The Council believes that the added value from CityVision lies in the credibility it buys with the Government and the resources this credibility unlocks. Business leader think that this is the only ‘added value’ and that CityVision should question its achievements. One business leader on CityVision said that he had not fully engaged with the partnership for this very reason. He had attended no more than three meetings in the previous 18 months and, despite being a Board member, did not feel ‘up to speed’ with many current issues:

To be honest, a lot of the discussion is old hat. There is nothing new or ground breaking from our point of view as an employer … I can’t hand on heart say that it does a lot for us … CityVision is self perpetuating. What are its objectives except a wish list?

However, the involvement of new actors in the regeneration process was itself perceived as added value. The opportunity to air differences within an umbrella organisation enables open discussion and facilitates understanding, even where agreement cannot be reached. For ABP, this process has had the knock on effect of increasing informal contacts and networking, including regular meetings with the Council Leader and the Chief Executive; ‘the real worth of CityVision is in facilitating connections, networks’. More concretely, Smith and Nephew assisted the Council, through CityVision, in an examination of the local supply chain with a view to finding opportunities for local firms to bid for local work. Hence, there is evidence that once engaged, firms have developed a taste for networking outside the CityVision arena.

The problem of ‘added value’ is addressed in a CityVision stakeholder survey, which points to broad agreement that the partnership adds value to regeneration in Hull although it is unclear what this consists of. The principal benefits are the partnership process itself, resulting in greater ‘synergy’, and the procurement of funding. But only a small minority of respondents believed that the partnership generates added value ‘because it achieves things which otherwise would not occur’. The survey claims that added value is an area where ‘hopes and practice become intertwined’. That is, beliefs about partnership achievements are not always borne out in practice.

While there were reservations about the effectiveness of CityVision, ‘partnership vehicles’, ‘issue based partnerships’ or ‘spheres of influence’ were widely credited with playing an important role in the partnership structures of the City.

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