Renaissance advisors

1. Rural Renaissance

Rural Capitals Programme

The Rural Capitals programme forms a major part of the Yorkshire Forward’s Rural Renaissance Policy Product.  It contributes directly to the overriding aim of the Agency’s Rural Policy Product Range of ‘building a modern rural economy based on enterprise, competitiveness and the region’s unique assets’.  The Rural Capitals programme builds on the successes of the RMT programme.   It will develop stronger, more diverse and resilient economies in the regions rural capitals by delivering Renaissance Market Towns (RMT) projects that fit with the long term Visions and Strategic Development Frameworks (SDFs), by developing high quality business space, by piloting approaches to Lower Carbon Rural Capitals and by providing support to develop capacity across the region for long term sustainability of the regions rural capitals

The Rural Capitals development programme, therefore forms an essential element of Yorkshire Forward’s strategic response to the specific challenges and issues facing the region’s rural communities. For example, providing access to expertise and knowledge to enable successful economic projects to be delivered through the RMT programme and the Enterprising Rural Capitals programme will help create conditions for sustaining and creating jobs in the rural capitals.

It will also develop the plans for the Low carbon Rural Capitals pilot programme that will aim to create jobs as part of the ‘green New Deal’, so that we are supporting the new jobs in the low carbon sector.  The Government’s Response to the report of the Rural Advocate: ‘England’s rural areas: steps to release their economic potential’, issued in February 2009, recognises that Government focus should be on the provision of support structures and leadership to enable local economies to contribute effectively to sustainable economic growth.  This programme aims to provide the support structure and leadership to enable the region’s rural capitals to strengthen their contribution to a strong and sustainable regional economy.

Renaissance Market Towns (RMT) programme

Yorkshire Forward will continue to support delivery of the RMT programme, supporting projects that deliver direct economic outputs and will continue support a delegated fund for small scale projects.  Projects will have been identified in the RMT Masterplan and Strategic Development Frameworks and must be supported by the Town Team.

Enterprising Rural Capitals

This programme aims to develop a network of high quality business space in some of the regions rural capitals.  A report produced in 2008 for Yorkshire Forward by King Sturge into rural business space, identified a number of towns where demand and regeneration need for business space were significant.  Work is underway to develop the model to deliver this, which will aim to engage a private sector partners to deliver and manage the business space facilities.

Low Carbon Rural Capitals (LCRC)

This programme aims to pilot approaches to lower carbon settlements and economies in rural capitals.  A scoping study was undertaken for Yorkshire Forward in 2008 by Arup to determine whether any of regions’ rural capitals could sustain a pilot programme to trial new approaches to lower carbon settlements.  Projects that could be supported would either be entirely new and untested, or untested in a rural setting.  A shortlist of 9 settlements was identified and following further discussions with Local Authority partners, a further shortlist of 4 settlements/groups of settlements was produced.  A more detailed study to investigate implementation plan options for these settlements is currently underway.

Regional Rural Capitals Development programme

This programme will develop research, capacity and skills support for partners on issues relating to development and delivery of the Rural Capitals programme.  This will include seminars, study tours, support for accessing Yorkshire Forward’s panel of expertise and access to research on rural capitals.

Rural Development Programme for England Aims to safeguard and enhance the rural environment. Helping to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and improve economy of the region`s rural areas.

Environmental Assets

Our Environmental Assets programme will be looking at projects which can deliver outputs and outcomes which contribute towards mitigating climate change and flood defence through the use of our environmental assets.

During this year we will be launching a project called the Master Planning for Rural Estates, the aim of which is to identify and work with small to medium sized rural estates in Yorkshire and the Humber to encourage closer working relationships and networking between public and private sector organisations through a fifteen to twenty Master Planning process. 

The team also works with partner organisations to support essential rural services and improve access to services for rural residents.

2. Urban Renaissance and Property

The urban context

Our towns and cities are the major economic contributors to the region, containing almost 80% of the population and producing 85% of the economic output. Even though we’re a largely rural region, Yorkshire & Humber contains 4 of the UK’s 10 largest urban areas.

The legacy of history

Industrialisation in our urban centres led to expansion, but de-industrialisation later led to decline. This particularly affected textiles in West Yorkshire, coal in South Yorkshire, and employment (but not production) within the steel industry in South Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
The decline of many of our town and city centres was accompanied by social and physical degeneration, worsened by urban sprawl, including the emergence of out-of-town shopping. Our urban cores became places more likely to hinder, rather than promote, economic growth. The sheer scale of the problem, and a lack of resources, condemned to failure previous approaches of quick-fix and piecemeal interventions.

The situation today

Supported by economic interventions, people in our region are finding new ways to live and work. As traditional industries have contracted, new types of industry have sprung up,  and knowledge-based sectors have come to the fore.

Making places ‘great'

Yorkshire Forward wants to help create places where people want to live, work and invest—seizing opportunities, fixing what’s broken, and building on what’s already there. Our Urban Renaissance programme provides a new way to overcome the challenges. We have a detailed understanding of the issues, and we're promoting the development of knowledge, expertise, skills and best practice.

What is a ‘great place'?

It's virtually impossible to define what makes a place 'great' - but the following are a range of likely characteristics:

  • Originality and great architecture
  • Creativity, culture, knowledge and learning
  • Permeable public spaces, public buildings and public life
  • Quality and accessible green spaces
  • High-quality, well-connected infrastructure
  • Engaged and thriving communities with a sense of belonging
  • Strong, ambitious leadership and governance
  • Civic pride and positive identity
  • Strong, growing businesses and flexible local economies
  • Accessible business support structures
  • Environmental consciousness and sensitivity
  • Equality, fairness and diversity of offer—reflecting all ages, races and abilities.
Why should towns & cities be made better?
  • They serve as an attraction for people, businesses and visitors. They become places where people want to visit, live, work and invest.
  • They offer better lifestyles. They’re more likely to attract people who have more choices in life, with higher levels of income, education and skills.
  • They attract new, knowledge-based sectors, such as the creative industries.
  • The process of ‘place-making’ helps to overcome social exclusion, empowering local people and raising their levels of aspiration and ambition.
How are we doing this?

We have introduced 4 tactics:

  • We’re ‘thinking places’—building the region’s understanding of ‘great places’, as well as the rationale and economics to support our plans
  • We’re ‘designing places’—embedding and supporting great architecture and design across the region, including urban and landscape design.
  • We’re ‘making places’—via interventions such as site assembly and project funding
  • We’re ‘learning & growing places’—disseminating skills as well as an understanding of what the development and sustaining of great places means, including elements such as planning.
Where are we focusing our activities?

We target our interventions on places where there’s an opportunity for economic improvement through place-shaping (ensuring that we don’t duplicate or displace the activities of others). Place-making is a long-term process, and our work within the existing urban areas Renaissance will continue. However, the future will provide new opportunities to assess, identify and prioritise where place-making interventions should be focused. So while it seems apparent that we’ll continue to focus activity on under-performing urban centres, we’ll also consider how best we to identify and seize opportunities elsewhere.

Who are we working with?

Urban renaissance and place-shaping must be a strategic, collaborative process, involving people and partners including Team Yorkshire Forward, Team Yorkshire & Humber, more devolved responsibility to local authorities, and beyond.

Property intervention for renaissance

The Regional Economic Strategy has ‘great places’ at its heart. The role of the Strategic Development & Property team at Yorkshire Forward is mainly to help create those great places.

The team’s role is to support sustainable economic growth, and play an active part in the work of our  urban regeneration companies (URCs) and city development companies (CDCs). We want to help provide new and exciting economic opportunities.

This page tells you about our Property policy. To find out about the support we're delivering, please refer to our our strategic development and property and housing pages.

What is the team doing?
  • Overcoming market failure and fostering social equality
  • Working to maximise European funding
  • Working to leverage private-sector funding and expertise
  • Funding and/or enabling strategic infrastructure
  • Developing the effectiveness of our URCs
  • Supporting our emerging CDCs
  • Influencing the region’s major utility companies
  • Managing the restoration and/or re-development of former coalfield sites
  • Encouraging sustainable construction.
Where are we working?
  • We’re city- and town-based, supporting the ‘great places’ agenda and the work of the URCs and CDCs
  • We’re focusing on South Yorkshire, maximising European funding and undertaking coalfield restoration and redevelopment
  • We’re working at national, regional and sub-regional levels to influence utilities and constructing excellence

We have a region-wide role in providing property support to Yorkshire Forward.

Economic opportunities

Our activity will lead to new economic opportunities for the region. These include:

  • Encouraging investment into areas previously overlooked
  • Encouraging further activity where we are already focusing, such as our priority sectors
  • Raising the quality of design and sustainable construction—potentially leveraging further investment through better surroundings and lower running costs
  • Improving the quality of the environment by reclaiming and redeveloping areas of dereliction, or providing new areas of public open space. These will encourage new investment and improve land and rental values
  • Encouraging private-sector investment where we act as the risk-taker.
Who are we working with?
  • To draw on the vast expertise and talent in the region, a consultancy panel has been set up. It is reviewed every 3 years, and further companies may be added where there is a shortfall in a particular expertise
  • External partnerships are set up in many cases, creating legal agreements with companies to provide the necessary framework for private-sector partnerships
  • On some occasions, work may be undertaken directly by Yorkshire Forward or through stakeholder/partnership organisations (eg local authorities). In these instances, work may be directly contracted by Yorkshire Forward or a service-level agreement/funding agreement will be entered into where delivery is via a third-party group.

Should you wish to express an interest in this category please download the documents under 'Related documents' and complete as per the instructions.

Any queries concerning the PQQ procedure or the project specification must be made by email to: PanelPQQ@Yorkshire-Forward.com
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