Altered Estates: how to reconcile competing interests in estate regeneration

Four architectural practices bring their long experience of housing to address the topical question of estate regeneration; HTA Design LLP, Levitt Bernstein, Pollard Thomas & Edwards, and PRP.

Roberts and Sykes’ definition of regeneration cites the quest for ‘lasting improvements’ of neighbourhoods that have failed to attract investment on their own account. We reflect on the political nature of this question as there are a range of possible motivations for seeking change. When it comes to estate regeneration in particular, we have seen quite a variety, including the elimination of poverty (Cameron), the rescue of forgotten communities (Blair), and the supply of new homes (Adonis, Heseltine et al).

We note also that there is sometimes an aesthetic dimension to this discussion. Many now argue that we should mend the physical as well as the social disjunctions in our urban fabric that have been left as a consequence of the unfinished business of comprehensive redevelopment.