urban regeneration in deprived european neighbourhoods 405
(1996) calls the informational global economy. It is connected at the abstract
level of the world system because of the determinant influence finance capital
now exercises over all economic activities, and in particular its impact on the
local revenue base. Increasingly, there is no “local” capital, as cities find
themselves competing for inward investment from globally mobile companies.
Indeed, at the local level, processes of urban governance re-structure the form
of cities to facilitate inward investment, for example, in the kinds of flagship
projects mentioned above. In Dublin, this approach is evidenced in the
IFSC/Docklands project, the Digital Hub and the proliferation of shopping
malls and town centres on the perimeter of the city. The knock-on effect of
revalorising certain parts of the city, frequently sets in motion the process of
gentrification, and may create conditions of increased polarisation. As Robins
asserts “... we are seeing the consolidation of the divided city, in which urban
space, while it is functionally and economically shared, is socially segregated
and culturally differentiated,” (1993, p. 313). The focus of the projects
examined in the course of the ENTRUST cities study, was to address this
problem of polarisation by developing and implementing strategies aimed at
socially inclusive regeneration.
The challenges facing the cities in the ENTRUST project are multiple and
diverse. Most cities struggle to maintain their resident population due to a
variety of factors including the limitations imposed by physical or
topographical constraints (the cost of redeveloping many inner-city sites is
prohibitively expensive in Glasgow), changes in economic conditions (de-
industrialisation and the jobs mismatch in cities like Glasgow and Vilnius),
and the influence of social aspirations and the quest for “quality of life”
(suburbanisation in Dublin and Lisbon).
With the exception of Dublin, population in the case study cities is either
static or in decline. Population was in decline in Dublin throughout the
twentieth century, but has recently begun to increase as a direct result of tax-
driven apartment building projects in the inner-city. Nevertheless, in the case
of both Lisbon and Dublin the relatively high price of property in desirable city
centre neighbourhoods, ensures that most of the significant population growth
continues to be on the periphery of the city, and in newly emerged suburban
communities in the neighbouring counties. Even in a very liveable city such as
Copenhagen, people tend to move out of the city and into the suburbs after
they start a family.
Glasgow is facing massive population loss to outlying suburban areas, and
new towns that offer better opportunities for work. Likewise, many companies
have found it preferable to relocate to green field sites in the suburbs, than to
stay downtown. This obviously has a long-term impact on the composition of
the inner-city community, the pool of social capital and economic resources