CLUDs Project

Commercial Local Urban Districts
Funded by the European 7th framework programme, the CLUDs project aimed at enhancing sustainability by incorporating territorial milieu into current urban regeneration tools.

The CLUDs project aimed at identifying which factors can play determinant roles in performing urban regeneration initiatives and which values can influence their success from an integrated perspective, according to sustainable development principles. Matching research and development policies

Period 2011-2014
Coordinator Carmelina Bevilacqua - Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria - PAU Department
Fund 7th European Research Framework – Marie Curie IRSES Action - Grant Agreement No 269142
Topics Urban Regeneration; Local Economic Development; Public Private Partnership; Urban Rural Link; Community Involvement
Amount € 638.400,00

Research

Partner

Documents

News & Events

A new paradigm for Sustainable Urban-Rural Regeneration

The CLUDs project, funded by the European 7th Framework Programme – Marie Curie Actions – IRSES 2010, aimed at identifying which factors can play determinant roles in performing urban regeneration initiatives and which values can influence their success from an integrated perspective, according to sustainable development principles. In particular, the research intended to demonstrate how the enhancement of local commercial activities (for example, handcrafts and food) performs urban regeneration initiatives towards the reinforcement of local economy, as a way of securing more sustainable urban-rural policy arenas.

Starting from the area-based approach featuring urban regeneration initiatives, the research has connected the logic of urban districts and community area to the logic of the urban-rural network, operationalizing the territorial milieu concept, by including it in current urban management tools, and turning it into an additional asset to further increase sustainability for the competitive urban platform.

The intent was to use new urban management tools able to produce competitive returns supported by social, environmental and economic sustainable actions. In order to reach this objective, it was important to classify urban areas by considered the integration as a basic requirement for the implantation of new urban management tool. Moreover, the CLUDs project strengthened the international research network in the field of urban regeneration, sustainability, public- private participation on the operations of urban transformation and revitalization of smaller towns

The Project

In the first year the CLUDs has emphasized the role of the urban district as catalyst of mixed partnership forms, according to a spatial urban configuration.
In order to understand what are the key factors of PPP initiatives, 12 case studies distributed in different districts of the metropolitan area of Boston have been analyzed.
In the second year the CLUDs has emphasized the roles of the community and of the localized production system to foster local economic development through the connection of urban regeneration to milieu concept.

In order to understand what are the key factors of Community Led Approach, 12 case studies distributed in different community plan in San Diego have been analyzed.

The contribution of the CLUDs project to Europe 2020 strategy, within the sustainable urban development is related to:

– The rationale of district for the implementation of ITI (Integrated Territorial Investment).
– The rationale of the community led approach for the implementation of CLLD (Community -Led Local Development).

Innovation

The CLUDs project has introduced the concept of “milieu” to offer a different source of sustainability within urban regeneration initiatives, that is the connections with the surrounding rural areas to reinforce local economy. Among different contributions in literature about the meaning of milieu, the more suitable explanation, according to the CLUDs project, is the following: “a set of potential expressed by a particular territory that should be recognized and captured by the organization of local actors in order to be exploited as sources of local development”.

The main feature of the milieu is the capability to relate physical resources with local actors, by covering three dimensional aspects: the individual (value attitudes, life-style, actions, perceptions); the level of the district/neighborhood (locality); and the level of the network. Connected to this general meaning, some specifications arise from the new economy or new economic geography implications, especially with respect the GREMI (Groupe de Recherches Européensur les Milieux Innovateurs) model.
Links between localized production system and “innovator milieu” have been analyzed “to show the way in which the complex interaction of demand, increasing returns, transport costs, as well as learning processes and other relevant elements, yield to performances even spatially differentiated, with areas which become losers or winners in the new competitive environment.”

According with the general objective of the CLUDs project, the key concept, coming out from the territorial milieu perspective, turns out as the following: “the role of space in innovative and localized processes depends on its capacity to promote local initiatives, to create a wave of new forms and to activate a territorial dynamic of innovation”. The specific context of the research outlines urban regeneration initiatives as drivers of sustainable development.

Implementation

Enhancing sustainability by incorporating territorial milieu into current urban regeneration tools

Urban Management Tool - WP1

The construction of the conceptual framework necessary to develop the CLUDs model is aimed at:
1. integrating physical interventions, public- private management, localisation of enterprises and economic logistics.
2. Developing a key-feature to innovate the theoretical background of BIDs (Business Improvement Districts) defined and implemented in USA.
Despite a new vision of the European space perspective has emerged in literature, former and current European programmes and tools, built to manage financial resources at regional level, tended and still tend to keep urban and rural development as separated issues.

This gap can be filled by proposing an urban-rural integrated management tool, to be implemented within urban regeneration processes under the current and future programming period

Territorial Milieu - WP2

The construction of the CLUDs model aimed at incorporating the territorial milieu (including urban-rural interactions) into local urban regeneration initiatives”:

1. incorporating urban-rural interactions into implement urban management tools.
2. exploiting the potential of grass-rooted community-driven initiatives into urban management tools.

How this territorial integration can generate value?

Clusters provide us with the supporting argument for building a marketable territorial network and operationalise the CLUD concept inside the territory as a whole.

The new urban management tool (CLUD) mediates between market and sustainable development, by joining together territorial milieu and clusters

CLUDs’ Local Action Plan - WP3

The construction of the CLUDs Local Action Plan aims at:
1. Testing the CLUDs model
2. Designing the CLUDs’ Local Action Plan structure
The WP3 is characterized by the implementation of the CLUDs Action Plan to different urban areas with diverse peculiarities. This WP aims at producing and implementing Action Plans for some pilot areas, through the broader involvement of the local community and stakeholders, and at developing a toolkit of transferable good practices to orient urban development policies.

Findings

A new paradigm for Sustainable Urban-Rural Regeneration tools

Insights

Considering the evidences analyzed, the urban regeneration initiatives based on an integrated approach that valorises the concept of the “milieu” are potentially drivers of sustainability and produce positive effects for communities by improving the supply of public services. The main results of the research, one related to the forms of PPP in urban regeneration initiative, the other related to the role of community led approach to reinforce urban regeneration by incorporating urban-rural interactions, have been oriented to give a contribution for the logical construction of the two new instruments ITI and CLLD.

The logics of urban district more suitable for enhancing the medium size city to implement the so called urban agenda 2020 with ITI “ by re-designing the role of nonprofit organizations in PPP; the community led approach to define the hub cities as urban center to interface from urban to rural context, for enhancing the integration between rural development policy with structural funds and making feasible the implementation of CLLD (ERDF/ESF funds together with European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

The main scientific highlights can be summarized as follows:

The strategic role played by no-profit organizations in urban regeneration initiatives in US contexts, quite different from the role played in EU contexts
The no-profit organization seems to be the key factor to compensate concentration of business and distribution of welfare. This important finding has been reached during the first period in Boston, by developing the research activities within the WP1 “Urban Management tools”.

The Approach

The main hypothesis started from the consideration that the development of a socio-economic territorial network can act as driver for sustainable urban regeneration and rural areas competitiveness, by involving producers and sellers in targeted urban-rural areas, also acting on food chains.

Two are the main topics:

– Urban regeneration connected to urban rural link;

– From rural area to urban district The CLUDs project aimed at investigate the key success factors acting in urban regeneration processes:

– Enhancement the local economy from the perspective of the network;

– Competitive repositioning of the urban district in the global economy;

– Sustainability of interventions of urban regeneration thanks to the integrated logistics (Km 0) and community planning oriented approach;

– Improvement of services to citizens.

Public Private Partnership in Urban Regeneration

The huge family of approaches in defining Public Private Partnership promoting the economic initiative within urban regeneration process has led to distinguish two main categories The first based on: 1. the initial formal or informal agreement among public and private partners; 2. the involvement of the public sector 3. the dominant thread concerning infrastructure financing, construction, operation, and maintenance The second based on: 1. A general pursuing to establish a partnership based on community development principles dealing with the involvement of citizens, local companies and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities 2. the legal entity based on non-profit organization, which allows to participate to a set of advantages, such as tax relieves, special national trust for grant, etc.. ; 3. the dominant thread concerning in providing services and programs and engage in activities that support communities.

Matching Structural Funds and Scientific Research

The joint activities of the project CLUDs based on the integration of Development Policy and Research, through the Synergy between the ESF OP 2007-2013 Calabria and 7th Framework Programme of the European research anticipate the build of initiatives consistent with the new Europe 2020 and Horizon 2020 for the future programming period

Boston Case Analysis

Urban Regeneration and PPP in Boston

Boston Marine Industrial Park

Dowtown Boston - Business Improvement District

Dudley Square Commercial District

Assembly Square - Sommerville

Washington Gateway Main Street

Concord Commons Commuter Rail

St. Mark's Area Main Street

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Fort-Point District

East Boston Main Street

Codman Square Neighborhood Development

Impact

Publications

BOOK

SPATIAL PLANNING AND TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT 2012 https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/spatial_planning

PAPER

NEW METROPOLITAN PERSPECTIVES 2014 BOOK 1 https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/territorial_milieu_as_driver_for_su
NEW METROPOLITAN PERSPECTIVES 2014 BOOK 2

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/research_and_innovation_transfer_in

Journal of civil engineering and architecture 2013

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/journal-of-civil-engineering-and-ar

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Urban regeneration tools and community involvement community benefit district 2013

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/urban_regeneration_tools_and_commun

Public spaces as positive externalities in urban regeneration initiatives 2013

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/publicspacesaspositiveexternalities

Realcorp 2013 the role of commixed use areas approach in USA

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/realcorp-2013_the_role_of_commixed_

Aisre 2013 tod and bids two strategic tools in urban regeneration initiatives

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/aisre_2013_tod_and_bids_two_strateg

Commercial local urban districts program (cluds) in PEOPLE 2012 CONFERENCE

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/commercial_local_urban_districts_pr

Smart specialisation strategies the role of public private partnership in planning smarter cities for Regional Studies Association conference

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/smart_specialisation_strategies_the

Arsa 2012 ppps and new urban centrality

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/arsa_2012_ppps_and_new_urban_centra

Aesop 2012 Conference proceedings

https://issuu.com/cludslab/docs/aesop_2012

International Conference

De Domenico D., Bevilacqua C., Pisano A. A., Structural systems and constructions practices in social housing, Isgma 2015, June 23-27, ISGMA 2015 – International Symposium on Green Manufacturing and Applications, Qingdao, 2015

Bevilacqua C., Trillo C., Pizzimenti P., Maione C., Urban Form and Urban Security: Insights from a Southern Italian Neighborhood, 20th International Conference On Urban Planning And Regional Development In The Information Society, 5 – 7 May, PLAN TOGETHER ? RIGHT NOW ? OVERALL From Vision to Reality for Vibrant Cities and Regions 20th International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development in the Information Society, Ghent, Belgium, 2015, pp. 651-659

First International Symposium

“New Metropolitan Perspective – The integrated approach of Urban Sustainable Development through the implementation of Horizon/Europe 2020” Presentation and Paper: Research and Innovation transfer in the field of PPP applied to Urban Regeneration actions and policies

Reggio Calabria, May 7, 2014

First International Symposium

“New Metropolitan Perspective – The integrated approach of Urban Sustainable Development through the implementation of Horizon/Europe 2020” Presentation and Paper: Territorial as driver for sustainability in urban regeneration initiatives: the case of San Diego, CA

Reggio Calabria, May 7, 2014

1st International Symposium