Putting identity into the community: exploring the social dynamics of urban regeneration

Abstract

The present paper adopts a social identity perspective to examine the relationship between community-based identification and well-being, resilience and willingness to pay back in the context of urban regeneration. A sample of 104 residents across five deprived urban areas in the South-West of England that have recently undergone or are about to undergo regeneration projects, completed a survey. The results demonstrate that areas where a more community-centred, bottom-up, approach to regeneration was taken (i.e., “culture-led”) showed higher levels of community cohesion than areas where the community dynamics were ignored (i.e., a “top-down” approach to regeneration). Increased community identification was linked to greater perceived social support, community-esteem, personal self-esteem, and self-efficacy. These psychological processes were, in turn, linked to increased resilience and well-being, as well as a stronger willingness to pay back to the community. The results are consistent with the social identity approach. Implications for urban regeneration strategies are discussed.