Competitive Bidding in Urban Regeneration: Stimulus or Disillusionment for the Losers?

During the 1990s competitive bidding became the principal way of allocating resources for urban regeneration. One of the objectives was to invigorate the approach of local authorities by exposing them to the pressure of competition. Another was to open up decisionmaking to a wider spectrum of interests, including the private sector and local communities. The authors examine the consequences for unsuccessful areas—an analysis which is crucial to any overall assessment of the approach. They focus on the competition for Priority Partnership Area status associated with the reshaping of Scotland's Urban Programme under Programme for Partnership. The analysis reveals a modest stimulus to partnership working in several areas, attributable to the need for agencies to cooperate in a time-constrained bidding process and to manage ‘compensation’ funds thereafter. These benefits were offset by the disillusionment caused by the experience and the penalties of losing resources. To avoid widening inequalities in the future, the authors argue, central government must recognise the impact of this disillusionment through improvements in the organisation of competitive bidding and through planning mechanisms for the mitigation of the adverse effects of losing.