Urban Communities

'Community' is a much used yet little understood term. Through a set of detailed case studies of communities in action this book examines the sources of community activism, the ways in which communities define themselves, and are defined by outsiders, and the nature of the interface between communities and public agencies via partnerships.

Providing a much-needed perspective on exclusion and discrimination, this book offers a distinct spatial approach to the topic of hate studies. It illustrates the role of specific spaces and places in shaping hate crime, and highlights efforts to challenge cultures of hate.

How can local communities effectively build peace and reconciliation before, during and after open violence? This trailblazing book gives practical examples, from the Global North and Global South, on communities alleviating conflict and enabling transformation in divided societies.

This book examines ways to understand and engage with the troublesome concept of 'community', presenting a variety of perspectives to challenge the ways in which areas of poverty and disrepute are represented.

A deep exploration on how questions of time and its organisation affect planning practice, this book questions ‘project speed’: where time to think, deliberate and plan has been squeezed. The authors demonstrate the many benefits of slow planning for the key participants, multiple interests and planning system overall.

This report provides an in-depth study of factors that influence the effectiveness of urban regeneration partnerships, and how they work within the national policy context. It highlights the key lessons of partnership, exploring good practice in leadership, visioning and consensus building,

and the translation of vision into workable objectives.

This report follows the progress of twenty very different neighbourhood organisations across three countries to explore the opportunities and challenges of neighbourhood renewal from a community perspective.

A free pdf version of this report is available online at www.jrf.org.uk

This book looks at how community capacity building is delivered within neighbourhood regeneration programmes, focusing on the key issue of resourcing. This review is framed within the context of the government's emerging national strategy for neighbourhood renewal, and the New Commitment to Regeneration initiative.

Local urban high streets have the potential to meet policy aspirations with regard to sustainability and social inclusion, yet they have frequently been neglected. Drawing on case-studies in three different locations, this report provides a wealth of findings produced from a variety of sources.

A free pdf is available at www.jrf.org.uk

This book charts the rise and fall of the ‘sharing economy’, the controversial lobbying tactics used by the central companies and the backlash seen so far. It offers key policy recommendations and presents state-of-the-art knowledge around the past, present and future of the platform economy.

Community involvement is seen as essential for urban regeneration, but it often proves elusive. The UK government has identified 'faith communities' as an important resource. This report explores the present and potential contribution of religious communities and their members, and the tensions and controversies involved in engaging with 'faith'.

This report explores the ways in which schools serving two economically and socially disadvantaged urban areas have attempted to balance their educational aims with growing demands to engage in community life. It focuses on the relationship between the schools and their communities and on outcomes in terms of individual and community development.