Affiliation: Senior Lecturer, University of Birmingham, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies

Website: University of Birmingham Profile

Presentation: Giving People a Voice: The Transformation of an English Public Sector Housing Estate

In this presentation, Mike Beazley tells the story of the transformation of the Castle Vale estate on the eastern fringe of Birmingham. Castle Vale was built in the 1960s as a showpiece estate to house inner city residents. By the early 1990s the estate had become a classic "sink estate" with all the inherent problems associated with large-scale public sector high rise housing and an area where no one wanted to live. The designation of a Housing Action Trust in 1993 led to a massive transformation that continues through to today, spearheaded by the Castle Vale Community Housing Association and the Castle Vale Neighbourhood Management Board in association with a range of other partners. Castle Vale is an internationally recognized example of good practice in terms of engaging the community in the process of regeneration. The paper discusses how the community was engaged in the process and to examine some of the processes and challenges that have been encountered.

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