Regenerating public sector housing estates: The role of community enterprise

The paper focuses on two emerging themes in the area of urban policy. One concerns the potentials associated with community action in the local economy. The other relates to the acute economic problems of public sector housing estates. The discussion brings both these themes together by exploring the impacts community enterprise initiatives are making in the context of housing estates. The empirical evidence presented was collected during research carried out in 1986 and 1987. This involved detailed case studies of selected community enterprises from different urban centres in the UK. The bulk of the paper is devoted to assessing the contributions of community enterprise in terms of employment impacts, the provision of local services and the development and enhancement of local community capacity. Brief mention is made about the relationship between public sector programmes and community enterprise but this is not the main focus of the paper. To set the context the discussion begins with a brief consideration of the problems of housing estates. We then outline the main features of the community-based approach and its relevance to public sector housing estates.