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Urban Regeneration Companies
Uniting public and private-sector partners, Urban Regeneration Companies (URCs) are independent companies established by the relevant Local Authority and Regional Development Agency.
They work alongside English Partnerships and other local stakeholders including employers, amenity groups and community representatives.
The URCs were created to champion and stimulate new investment into areas of economic decline and to co-ordinate plans for their regeneration and redevelopment, following a recommendation from Lord Rogers’ Urban Task Force Report in 1999.
URCs principal aim is to engage the private sector in a sustainable regeneration strategy, working within the context of a wider Strategic Regeneration Framework or masterplan which takes full account of the problems and opportunities for the whole area.
England’s URCs key facts:
- Together they comprise an area of some 303,400 ha – an area almost twice the size of London
- 1.2 m people live and work within their boundaries
- They anticipate contributing to the creation of 195,000 jobs over their lifetime
They anticipate creating an additional 103,000 new housing units. - The URCs have the potential to attract over £18.6 bn of private sector investment.
The URCs
There are currently 19 URCs across England:
- Blackpool
- Bradford
- Camborne
- Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft
- Pool & Redruth
- Derby; Gloucester
- Leicester; Manchester
- North Northants
- Peterborough
- Salford; Sandwell
- Southend
- Sunderland
- Swindon
- Tees Valley
- Walsall
- West Cumbria and Furness
- Wolverhampton.
A number of other areas are currently working on plans for a URC.
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For further information visit the Urban Regeneration Companies website at www.urcs-online.co.uk |
A full list of URCs’ addresses can be found in the contacts section.
Economic Development Companies
Three URCs, have changed their status to Economic Development Companies (EDC) or City Development Companies (CDC):
- Sheffield One is now Creative Sheffield CDC
- Liverpool Vision is now an EDC
- Hull Citybuild is now Hull Forward EDC.
The Government announced its intention to promote the concept of CDCs – later rebranded as EDCs in 2007. The concept is for these vehicles to drive economic growth and regeneration within a determined urban, rural or coastal area or sub-region, focusing on areas of deprivation.
URCs and EDCs fit closely within the Government’s devolution agenda and policy on local economic development following the review of sub-national economic development and regeneration (SNR).
For further information on EDCs go to the Department for Communities and Local Government website.
English Partnerships’ role
English Partnerships offers practical support and assistance for all URCs and is a funding partner and board member of the majority. English Partnerships was also responsible for developing the original URCs model.
Support and assistance is provided in a number of ways, including:
- Helping the URCs to deliver their strategic priorities by participating in joint venture agreements, making acquisitions for development schemes, acting as a catalyst for regeneration projects and encouraging private-sector investment.
- Working with new and emerging URCs to assist with their establishment and, where appropriate, providing support for masterplanning, running costs and research to help them deliver their strategic priorities.
- Providing best practice support and guidance, the organisation of a conference, and the undertaking of specific items of research.
The role of English Partnerships in URCs is evolving, with the development of new and innovative funding arrangements. This includes advising on the acquisition of problematic or empty property in residential neighbourhoods suffering from market decline and working with URC partners to purchase and remediate land in need of environmental improvement.
