{"id":6427,"date":"2018-02-11T12:23:38","date_gmt":"2018-02-11T12:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=6427"},"modified":"2026-04-18T19:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T19:34:32","slug":"6427","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2018\/02\/6427\/","title":{"rendered":"Regeneration: promise or threat to city vitality?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Regeneration.  What does it mean? A threat or a promise? Who’s it for? Who benefits most from the redevelopment of city centres, the transformation of community assets into commercial investments?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our thanks to Genghis the Gardener (a former citizen of Edinburgh now living in London) for sending his poem Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Council<\/em>.  Written for Haringey on Burns Night, it expresses emotions sorely felt in cities across Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is, as Joyce McMillan writes in the Scotsman<\/a>, a global phenomenon. In a world where money talks, local authorities make their decisions ‘not because they are evil but because they are broke’:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

To oppose what is happening to our cities, in other words, involves challenging the whole pattern of economic power in our society, along with the prevailing model of short-term casino capitalism that drives the urban property market.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It’s complicated, of course. As we recorded last year<\/a>, wasn’t it Edinburgh City Council that commissioned Christine De Luca, then Makar, to write her fine poem A Drama in Time <\/em>for their forward planning Edinburgh 2050 City Vision<\/em>?  The City Planning Department had requested it as a result of their online conversation with citizens. The poet responded with a title inspired by the visionary Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) and his views on urban planning [see the full poem here<\/a>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Think of our city in 2050: bigger and more diverse;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

an interplay of hopes and dreams and possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still skylines to delight, still grace and open space,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but good homes, good health built-in for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we keep the citizen central to the plan, the heart:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a living, breathing city; not just a backdrop or vista<\/p>\n\n\n\n

or playground for the wealthy or the tourist? A place<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where decision-makers are incorruptible and honest.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

How often are citizens actively included in the decision-making? For Haringey, read those parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and every other vibrant city that attracts the developers’ eye. And ask, as Joyce McMillan, bodies like the Cockburn Association<\/a>, Academy of Urbanism,<\/a> and many others are asking with increasing urgency: how can people reclaim the city landscape?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, StopHDV<\/a>  a campaign group of local residents and small business owners, is asking questions, demanding answers and fighting the development plans  \u2013 in prose and poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Council<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promises, promises –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to the tenant, the right of return,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to the owner, value for your house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promises, promises \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

loads of jobs and homes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

town centres open round the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right, don\u2019t sleep<\/p>\n\n\n\n

or they\u2019ll catch you out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a parcel of rogues in a Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You too could be a municipal challenge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for the multi-national and Council falange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Cabinet designed for tricks of land,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for public relations of reptilian kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ll lend you a lease just for awhile<\/p>\n\n\n\n

if you\u2019re a stallholder in the way of their pile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They plan to demolish Council houses in Tot\u2019nam,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

knock down Sky City and re-make Wood Green,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

all just to give the borough a new sheen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and bring in high earners, craft shops for the lot of \u2018em.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a parcel of rogues in a Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s something happening this side of the Lea<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with folk from the west and folk from the east<\/p>\n\n\n\n

who are waking up to the nature of this beast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and who are determined to stop this HDV<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are for community and homes not this profit mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the street, in the court, on the green, in the rooms<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it\u2019s time to re-think where your destiny looms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a parcel of rogues in a Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attributed to ‘Genghis the Gardener’<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘How often are citizens actively included in the decision-making? For Haringey, read those parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and every other vibrant city that attracts the developers’ eye’. Fay Young on the key urban question: how can people reclaim the city landscape?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[240,239,241],"class_list":["post-6427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-property-development","tag-regeneration","tag-urban-planning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6427"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18866,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427\/revisions\/18866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}