Urban regeneration as driver of adaptive capacity of cities. Comparative analysis of Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and British approaches by the Central Governments

The urban built environment creates an intricate web of linked neighbourhoods, combining high inertia in spatial, policy and governance structures with rapidly changing functionality and uncertain futures in climate, demographic, socio-economic and other urban challenges. Upgrading the sustainability of urban areas needs to take place through holistic and integrated projects, linking structure to agency in a multidimensional manner. Urban regeneration instruments can play a relevant role to achieve this goal. This article analyses urban regeneration policy in four different European contexts with very different urban policy traditions: Norway, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom. It compares how their respective Central Governments are introducing and implementing “methodologies” for action in urban areas, based on innovative and flexible instruments to improve urban neighbourhoods, creating capacity and added value for future resilience. The comparison between the Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and British cases underlines the common problems and the successful approaches in enhancing the adaptive capacity of cities through urban regeneration. This work forms part of the COST TU0902 Action Assessment Technologies to Support the Sustainable Development of Urban Areas (2010 – 2013) (http://iaforcities.com).