Policy Networks and Housing Regeneration in England and Sweden

Abstract

During recent decades, rented housing estates all over Europe have become the object of a flood of programmes aimed at physical and social renewal and regeneration. Drawing upon network theory, in this paper a conceptual framework is presented and tentatively applied in a comparative study of rented housing regeneration and area improvement in England and Sweden. Although the contours of broadly similar policy communities in the two countries could be found, there were also striking differences in network formation. Thus, in England the Department of the Environment seems to play a more prominent role in policy-making and implementation than its Swedish counterpart, while in Sweden the municipal housing companies, the local authorities and the tenants' organisations take part more actively in the policy process than is the case in England. Closely related to these findings it is argued that there are also some lessons for practical use that could be learnt from the analysis, although one then has to be careful not to overlook the context-bound specificities, at the national as well as the local level.