IHBC Yearboox 2018

24 Y E A R B O O K 2 0 1 8 vitality and strengthening commercial confidence in the selected areas. All the schemes recorded positive change over a ten-year period on all measures, especially in relation to townscape improvements, but marked variations occurred in their performance. The discussion of such nuances reveals the principal factors affecting the capacity of heritage-led regeneration to deliver economic and social outcomes as well as conservation improvements. Significant contextual issues were important determinants of the success of a scheme, impacting upon the ability to lever in matching funding. Problems can include failing economic demand and the pre-existing dependence of a place on a single industry vulnerable to rapid decline, while the existence of latent economic demand improved the prospects of positive outcomes. Although the post-2008 crisis negatively affected the success indicators in most of the schemes studied, in those experiencing only marginal economic improvements the THI at least assisted in maintaining the status quo or preventing further deterioration. Therefore, addressing the wider economic context should be a complementary ingredient to heritage-led regeneration, particularly in the most deprived communities. COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The CED programme is a more recently established initiative that puts local communities at the forefront of regeneration efforts. The CED was introduced in England in 2015 with funding from the DCLG, and is delivered by a partnership involving Locality, the New Economics Foundation, Responsible Finance, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and the Community Development Foundation. The programme sets in motion a community-led process aimed at creating new inclusive economic opportunities for disadvantaged local areas, with economic growth conceived as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. The desired long-term outcomes include the re-shaping of the local economy and local retention of the wealth generated, for example through the use of local builders in any redevelopment. A partnership approach is again encouraged, embracing residents, businesses, service providers and other stakeholders, with communities receiving a mixture of technical and small-scale grant support ultimately leading to the creation of a CED plan setting out a range of achievable activities and their proposed implementation. The highly oversubscribed programme is demonstrative of significant demand for fresh thinking and investment, with the emphasis on evaluating progress to identify emerging lessons and how they can be applied to heritage-led regeneration. Although the CED approach embraces a broad variety of prospective projects and activities, several characteristics ensure its pertinence to heritage. In particular, evidence suggests that the most successful schemes pursued asset-led regeneration, whereby communities own and develop assets in a way that captures new and existing economic value for local public benefit. The heritage sector has decades of experience of regenerating physical heritage assets, with the work of building preservation trusts especially exemplary. Indeed, many aspects of the CED process resonate with the approach taken by heritage funders such as the Architectural Heritage Fund. Thus, several of the promoted CED projects began with the conservation of a heritage asset in mind. In Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, for example, Urban Vision North Staffordshire’s aim was to secure the future of the Grade II former town hall. However, by following the CED process, the group’s vision was subsequently widened to embrace the remodelling of the High Street and Tower Square. Furthermore, the identifiable assets of local places include the skills-base of the community and the opportunities that exist to develop this in line with creating sustainable employment opportunities. From a heritage perspective, the promotion of traditional building skills is clearly pertinent to furthering the closely coupled skills and conservation agendas. The CED is indicative of evolutionary thinking towards alternative approaches to promoting inclusive economic change, taking into account the interrelationship between positive economic, social and environmental outcomes, and the desirability of enabling community participation in regeneration to move from consultation towards ‘partnership’ and ‘control’ (see Further Information, Co-operatives UK). However, the relative infancy of CED in the UK, versus the inherently long-term nature of sustainable regeneration processes, suggests that it is too early to draw conclusions. Whereas Co-operatives UK’s evaluation indicates CED’s promising start, the report also identifies factors that limit its capacity to effect widespread change and points to deeper structural issues. For example, the ‘wider context’ poses substantial barriers, including inadequate resources and timeframes, and the persistence of standardised measures of economic success that are deemed incompatible Warehouses at Liverpool’s Albert Dock lie at the heart of the Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site and have been skilfully adapted to new uses