It is extraordinary to note that most urban regeneration programmes are planned and driven by technical professionals without engaging the most relevant stakeholders, the communities themselves. As a result of this non-participatoryapproach, the suggested initiatives usually fail to address the problems faced by communities.Apart from investing capital back into a depressed area, urban regeneration programmes have many objectives. It is also meant to increase the standard of living for the general population. For any real estate developer, be it from the private sector or the government, it involves considerable risk and expenses. The way in which to manage such exorbitant development costs is to ensure that economies of scale are at work; this is the fundamental reason for a heavy ‘top-down’ physical planning approach for urban regeneration initiatives.
This report highlights the benefits of a small grants programme in alleviating the pressures of social displacements in top-down urban regeneration development. The scale of big urban regeneration projects and the scale of affected displaced communities are different. The former is at a national/state or city level whilst the latter can be at the scale of neighbourhoods. Therefore, a grass-root developmental grants programme—community development fund (CDF)—can complement wider urban regeneration strategies. Both methods working in tandem is critical for inclusive city development.
