Urban regeneration in the UK and other European countries assumed enormous significance throughout the 1990s and provided many opportunities for interprofessional cooperation and collaboration. However, the impact of participation by local communities in regeneration has been varied, and the involvement of children within those communities has often been left to chance.

In this chapter we offer an overview of regeneration policies in the UK and examine attempts by different agencies to involve children and young people in the design and implementation of regeneration. Using community participation and networking theories as a framework, we identify appropriate opportunities for developing child-friendly regeneration policies and processes. This involves a review of the various different approaches to regeneration prevailing at different times and commenting on the position and role of children in areas which, prior to regeneration, are often associated with the concept of social exclusion. We draw particularly on the material gathered during the Scottish case study prepared for this book to establish preliminary models for children's participation in urban regeneration.

How can we define regeneration?

At its most literal definition, to regenerate implies “to undergo or cause to undergo moral, spiritual or physical renewal or invigoration: to form or be formed again” (Collins English Dictionary). This is not an inappropriate definition in the context of urban regeneration, because the themes of social (as opposed to moral), physical and economic renewal are interrelated and inseparable strands. Neighbourhood regeneration has been defined as a product of structural changes that have occurred in regional economies which are themselves influenced by changes in national and global economies (Thake, 1995). We must bear in mind, however, that regeneration cannot be described or defined as a standard process because different regions have different problems and require different approaches to tackling them. But, overall, contemporary regeneration is identifiable with a strategic focus of implementing strategies to ‘turn around’ those areas which have above-average indicators of deprivation, and which are seen by both the local community and outside agencies as needing action to rebuild confidence (Taylor, 1995). Regeneration, therefore, has become an all-encompassing word used to describe a range of initiatives and processes, all of which impact on the communities which experience them.