Glasgow to get a US lesson in street savvy

THE American academic who invented urban regeneration arrives in Glasgow today to teach the city how to reclaim its streets from deprivation and despair.

Professor John McKnight, the world guru for communities transformed by reliance on people rather than institutions, has, for 30 years, worked with 100 projects in 20 major US cities.

Based on his experience, he is critical of social policymakers who talk about "territories" rather than communities and define residents as "customers".

In his work, he has been involved in cleaning the streets of crime, improving health care and building street level self-esteem.

It is a coup for the Scottish Centre for Regeneration, which invited the academic to conduct the one-day masterclass. Nearly 100 delegates, representing residents, volunteers, and regeneration professionals, will attend a seminar in the Jurys Inn Hotel, Jamaica Street.

McKnight is professor of communications studies and co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) at Northwestern University, Chicago.

He pioneered work with ABCD derived from a belief that even in the most disadvantaged communities, there are resources to draw on.

They can range from the skills and abilities of residents, workers and local groups, to contributions from public, private and voluntary sector organisations.

Prof McKnight captured the fruits of his work in his book Building communities from the inside out: a path towards finding and mobilising a community’s assets, which is seen as the "bible" of the field.

He maintains the community is the key to regeneration. Prof McKnight said: "Across the United States, many communities are in trouble. In our cities, economies splutter, social ties weaken, and political power fades.

"But everywhere, creative local leaders are fighting back, rebuilding neighbourhoods and communities. In the face of diminished prospects for outside help, they are turning first to their neighbours and citizens’ associations at the heart of their community."

Prof McKnight’s masterclass will determine what "ABCD" can offer Scotland. The American model will be examined in an attempt to correlate it to the Scottish situation.

Prof McKnight said of social policymakers who construct "maps of territories": "While this perception of territory may not be inaccurate, it is incomplete because the community does not appear to be present.

"[The community] function is as a unique form of local relationships, in which people come together in small groups to solve problems, to create new approaches and celebrate local society.

"Healthy communities are built through the development of structures of association which are the primary vehicle through which the gifts and capabilities of citizens are identified and mobilised."

The masterclass was organised by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration, which is part of Communities Scotland, the Scottish Executive’s housing and regeneration agency.

The centre was established to ensure that people have the knowledge and skills required to effectively deliver regeneration through the direct involvement of their communities.

The director, Craig McLaren, said: "We are delighted and excited to have Professor McKnight here. He is the pioneer of urban regeneration - its guru.

"We have seen how building from the grassroots can benefit communities in, for example, a place like Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, and we have much to learn from Professor McKnight’s asset-based community development concept. It is about communities realising their own strengths."

Since 1969, Prof McKnight has been associated with many major ABCD projects. They have included research on urban health, law enforcement, lack of urban investment, local government, child welfare, anti-crime initiatives and the effects of the perception of crime upon communities.

He has also directed the Chicago innovations forum, which established links between neighbourhood leaders and innovators in economic, political and social development.

His initiatives grew out of a project that evaluated the relationships between local associations, enterprises, and non-profit organisations in cities across the US, and the ways in which public policies and businesses affected them.