Neighbourhood Renewal and Urban Policy: A Comparison of New Approaches in England and France

This article seeks to re-animate the Anglo-French debate on neighbourhood renewal and urban policy that characterized the mid 1990s. This is appropriate given the apparent similarities between the recent approaches adopted in the two countries. The common challenge is integration: reconciling the territorial problems of diverse places with the functional organization of the principal actors. This has led to a partnership approach (National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal in England, Contrat de Ville in France) and an emphasis on community involvement and concentrated, local management initiatives. However, there are also informative differences: the long-standing multi-sector partnership approach in England, with its greater experience of community involvement, versus the public sector led approach in France, with its greater experience of strategic working between tiers of government.