Urban Regeneration & Neighbourhoods

Revitalising local districts without pricing out the people who call them home is the core challenge of modern urban renewal. As cities grapple with climate and housing pressures, frameworks like the New European Bauhaus champion a shift towards inclusive, place-based regeneration. This topic explores strategies designed to ensure transformation benefits existing communities rather than displacing them. It examines anti-displacement policies and participatory planning, giving residents a meaningful voice in shaping their surroundings. Central to this vision are 15-minute-city concepts and mixed-use placemaking, which create walkable environments integrating daily needs, employment, and green infrastructure. By applying a just-transition lens, community renewal becomes a tool for climate resilience and social equity, ensuring the benefits of green transitions are shared by everyone, not just the well-off.

Below, you will find a curated selection of resources, organisations, and projects driving this transformation. The knowledge resources delve into the practicalities of adaptive reuse, highlighting research on converting obsolete office buildings into residential spaces, alongside insights into Germany's urban development programmes and Europe's vacant property challenges. You can explore the work of pioneering organisations such as Actors of Urban Change, Architectuurwijzer, and BIG, as well as concrete examples of community-driven renewal like the ABZ Tower im Koch-Quartier, Blaue Insel, and Fabra & Coats. Finally, the page features upcoming events, including the polis Convention Düsseldorf 2026 and the Urban Future 2027 gathering, inviting you to connect with practitioners actively shaping the future of our cities.