The British Urban Programme

Although it is now over four years since the British urban programme was initiated, available information on its origins, the details of its implementation and the extent to which it has been successful continues to be severely limited. The literature on this topic is restricted to a few critical articles which, in the main, have focussed on details of the implementation of the programme, while systematic research in this area is conspicuous for its absence. This paper provides an analysis of the information that is currently available drawing upon such sources as relevant government circulars and statements, interviews with civil servants, a number of written contributions from voluntary bodies involved in the programme and a few but valuable contacts with local government councillors and officials. Considerable insight has also been gained from the practical experience of one of the writers who participated in the process of making application for urban programme grants for two projects. On this basis, it has been possible to present an outline of the programme’s origins, the organisation and proedures established to administer it and some of the changes which have apparently taken place since its initiation

Civil servants · Government (linguistics · Local government · Political science · Politics · Process (computing · Public relations · Computer Science · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Rural development and sustainability · Urban Planning and Governance