The URBAN community initiative in Northern Ireland

Urban policy has been inextricably tied to the management of the Northern Ireland conflict. The arrival of the EU URBAN Community Initiative 1994-99 struck a discordant note in the attempt to revitallse town centres, [ever property capital and produce positive place imagery. This article reviews the experiences of the Initiative in Derry/Londonderry and suggests that its concern for spatial poverty, community participation and social regeneration has much to offer policy and politics in Northern Ireland's uncertain transition to post-conflict stability. A local White Paper is proposed in order to ground policy in the reality of post-industrial change, ethnoreligious segregation and the need to reach out to Northern Ireland's most disaffected communities.