28th March 2013, Paris-Sorbonne University, Salle des Actes.

This one day conference invites researchers working on initiatives aiming at introducing innovative urban regeneration projects in cities across Europe, particularly cities affected by radical re-modellings over the last twenty years. We are looking for instances of administrative traditions being challenged towards exploratory strategies by lobbying groups of architects/designers, or local communities, or even local governments. This workshop wants to explore if and how the expertise of uses from inhabitants and field workers in urban regeneration processes may be integrated to learn about possible ways of challenging the emerging patterns of urban fragmentation.

Background: Regeneration schemes flourished in the 2000s in several Irish and British cities, often transforming the skyline through the erection of new shiny buildings. Radical place-making processes were staged as in the Liverpool Waterfront or in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. This was generally justified by the need to modernise cities which had become less attractive due to declining population and economic activities, but also, as in the case of Belfast, due to latent conflicts eroding the city fabric. This urge to modernise often followed economic imperatives to attract capital. If such cities may indeed present a new, more dynamic image, a sense of disappointment emerges as to the possible negative outcomes in terms of increasing spatial division (as in gated communities), privatisation of public space (Minton, 2006) and contrasting neighbourhoods (hot spots vs cold spots). Such negative consequences are deemed highly inadequate for cities already presenting high levels of social, economic and/or identity-related segregation. Other approaches may be necessary favouring exploratory, far-sighted strategies both in the field of what is regenerated and how (organisational innovation).

This one-day conference will open with a plenary session by Belfast architect Mark Hackett from the Forum for Alternative Belfast (FAB), who will expose some of their exploratory projects aiming at re-stitching the centre of Belfast to its inner-city neighbourhoods.