Renewal Works
Civic Quality Assessment and Intervention Strategy
A clear basis for regeneration and investment decisions.
Decisions about regeneration and investment need a clear understanding of the place as it is: what contributes to its quality, where problems arise and what lies behind them.
Renewal Works offers structured civic quality assessments that examine buildings, public realm and place management together. These provide a basis for deciding what to retain, what to improve and where more substantial change may be appropriate.
When an assessment is useful
An assessment can help establish priorities before projects are selected or investment proposals developed.
Applications include:
Town centre regeneration and high street strategies.
Estate renewal and neighbourhood improvement.
Public realm investment programmes.
Evidence to inform design codes.
Place-based funding and investment proposals.
The scope is shaped around the area and the decisions the assessment needs to inform.
What we examine
Buildings
How buildings relate to their surroundings and contribute to street character, everyday experience and long-term use.
Public realm
How streets and public spaces function, their condition and how they support movement, access and use.
Place management
How maintenance, servicing and day-to-day operations affect the quality and functioning of the place.
Examining these together helps distinguish isolated problems from issues that require a coordinated response.
What you recieve
A structured place assessment recording the area’s strengths, weaknesses and variation in civic quality.
A diagnostic report explaining the principal issues and the evidence supporting those findings.
An intervention strategy identifying priority areas and appropriate responses, from maintenance and targeted improvements to more substantial renewal.
The findings provide a basis for further project development and investment decisions, while identifying where additional investigation is needed.
Discuss your place or project
Tell us about the area, the challenges you see and the decisions you need the assessment to inform.
Our practical work draws on the principles developed through Renewal Institute’s research.
Renewal Institute