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THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVIEW
give an incentive and impetus to qualitative renovation of local commerce and
the urban atmosphere in order to promote tourism (Lisbon).
So for a multiplicity of reasons attempts are made to draw the private or
commercial sector into partnership with the local state or agency pursuing
regeneration. But the thorny question remains, what is in it for the private
sector partners? The absence of significant private sector activity in local
economies (such as in the de-industrialised neighbourhoods that form the
heart of the city case studies) may make it difficult to find private sector
partners in the first place. Even if businesses can be inveigled into partnership
programmes, there is some doubt about the degree of real input which they
make (Imrie and Thomas, 1993; Peck and Ticknell, 1995). The ENTRUST
project concluded that there are four main reasons why the private sector
might be motivated to accede to partnership arrangements: (1) To improve
their business competitiveness or return on investment, (2) To improve the
local business environment (3) To gain information and (4) To gain contracts
from the public sector. The tax designation/community gain scheme pursued
by Dublin City Council is clearly tailored to these specific private sector needs.
The private sector is fundamentally profit-oriented. Its participation in any
form of partnership arrangement will always be contingent on being able to
establish that there is indeed “something in it for us”. This cost/benefit
approach sits somewhat uneasily with the high aspirations espoused by
municipalities and agencies charged with the task of partnership-based,
urban regeneration. Only in the case of Dublin were real financial incentives
(in the form of tax designated development sites) made available to
commercial developers.3 Dublin, therefore, was exceptional in terms of
managing to engage successfully with the commercial sector. If incentives are
not on offer, the commercial sector remains reticent to engage in renewal
projects.
The examination of the case studies in the eight cities revealed that
although local businesses and entrepreneurs were a crucial force within the
neighbourhood, they tended for the most part, not to be an integral part of the
partnership process. The findings reinforce other research carried out into
partnerships which indicates that “... business partners have little patience
with talking shops, and can find the processes of consultation and decision
making tedious and non- productive” (Carley et al., 2000, p.61). There is a real
difficulty therefore, in engaging the private sector as a lead actor in local area
3 Typically, schemes in other cities tended to focus on the provision of incentives to start up new
businesses. Hamburg and Glasgow, for example, had successful schemes that supports business
and entrepreneurship in the neighbourhood by providing start up facilities and workspaces. An
example of a cultural incubation approach is provided in the next section.