Questioning citizen-led urban development in the UK: Sheffield case study [abstract only]

The paper discusses recent policies and incentives to enable citizens-led urban development in the UK and their impact on the ground. The UK can be seen as going through a new wave of neoliberalisation processes with the associated shrinkage of public sector as well as cutting services or outsourcing them to private and civic sectors. With progressive decentralisation of powers, the central government is transferring more roles and responsibilities not only to municipalities, but also to its citizens. Thus in the urban context the state is enabling citizens to take more control of their physical environment on multiple scales - from guiding development in their neighborhoods, taking over and managing previously state-run services and assets to providing them with tools to utilise unused spaces and resources in the city. The paper illustrates this process on the example of Sheffield, one of the core cities in the North of England. With a history of manufacturing Sheffield has gone through a period of deindustrialization and shrinkage in 1960s-2000s. The paper presents a number of case studies of organizations in Sheffield who are testing these new policies. BBEST and SKINN are developing community-led plans of their neighborhoods. CADS is collaborating with municipality to provide access to vacant spaces in the city centre. Heeley Development Trust have turned vacant plots of land into a community-run park and are working on converting former derelict state-owned buildings into community and business cluster. By analyzing these case studies, the paper asks the following questions: Do these examples show real empowerment or coercion of civil sector into taking over previous state-run functions? Does this create another level of organisational bureaucracy dependent on volunteerism? How inclusive is this process?