Cultural Regeneration causing problems of social exclusion.

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IntroductionUrban renewal and social exclusion are two very complex and imperative concepts that cannot be separated. The 21st century has seen a rise in the number of urban regeneration projects across the globe. There has been a lot of research conducted on this subject resulting in a substantial amount of literature published in various countries. The majority of research on this subject has mainly focused on urban renewal with a particular emphasis on how to solve problems of older parts of towns and cities (Khakee et al., 1999). Research indicates that urban renewal has its own merits and inherent problems which need clearly defined strategies to solve them. This nuisance has led to shift form urban renewal to urban regeneration. Instead of merely focusing on the development of land and properties in inner cities and towns, urban regeneration now encompasses social and economic concerns for the residents of the affected areas (Khakee et al.,

1999).

An analysis of urban renewal policies in the United Kingdom clearly identifies five different stages in the formulation of these policies. These stages include clearing largely unused urban landfills, making improvements to the existing housing infrastructure, renewal of dilapidated houses and apartments, eliminating inner city housing disparities and formulating renewal strategies that specifically incorporate economic and social development. The main goal of these policies is to address social exclusion can be caused by cultural regeneration strategies. Khakee et al. (1999) defines social exclusion as a failure of the legal and democratic system, the labour market, the welfare state system and the family and community system.

A number of regeneration projects in Western Europe including the United Kingdom have failed to tackle social exclusion issues of ethnic minorities living in these urban areas and this concluded in poverty and crime. It is against this background that...