Social and Spatial: Two Of A Kind. Research into the social and spatial effects of urban renewal in the context of identity processes.

Although scientists and professionals in the field of housing agree that urban renewal is more the (re-)stacking of stones, there is considerable debate on the question of how social and spatial interventions can be combined in urban renewal. Scientists (Atkinson & Kintrea, 2000; McArthur, 2000; Wood, 2002) stress the many differences between spatial and social engineering, and in practice urban renewal is dominated by spatial redesigning. This is partly due to the fact that the present debate on the subject lacks conceptual clarity, which results in a presumption that these concepts are incompatible. This research distinguishes between spatial and social processes on the one hand and spatial and social interventions on the other hand, of which the formers are intrinsically connected. This research therefore does not start with the question of how to combine spatial and social interventions, but asks how this connection can be effectively used in urban renewal. The research aims to deepen our understanding of the ways spatial interventions and social processes influence one another, in order to develop effective combinations. For this purpose a model will be developed based on the notion of identity dynamics proposed by Cohen (2000). The hypotheses drawn from this model will be tested in empirical research based on existing and newly gathered data that will be collected in case studies of urban renewal in the Netherlands and England.