Participation and Social Inclusion as a Dimension of Urban Regeneration Policy

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of the social aspect of regeneration, which should be a complex process, including in each of its stages, the broadly understood participation of local society. Stimulating this process in terms of animation and integration is a peculiarity of urban regeneration, but also a civic right and a procedure valid in democratic countries. In the conditions of Polish cities, despite the revitalization act adopted in 2015, the developed provisions concerning the social aspect, still raise many doubts. Therefore, using the analytical method, the author begins considerations by outlining the essence of regeneration process and indicating its optimal definition. Then,, she introduces the issue of social participation, responding to the concept of local governance as a model popularizing trust, civil society and social capital. The rightness of the principle of social inclusion as the primacy of regeneration processes is also indicated. Additionally, there are interpreted the conditions of Polish urban regeneration policy in the field of social activation, analyzing the quality of legal provisions contained in the regeneration act and tools used in practice. This allows to diagnose the level of real actions for socializing regeneration processes, as well as setting out prospective measures to improve the desired results. In conclusion, the author states that it is obligatory to develop a new direction of urban regeneration policy, whose biggest drawback in the Polish reality is first of all the use of passive activating methods and limiting the empowerment of urban communities.