The achievements of four years of Reurba Urban regeneration will involve more and more social, cultural and economic dimensions. It will also become increasingly detached from particular areas as it is integrated into the general process of transforming cities and city environments. In addition, different players will be getting involved with urban regeneration and the game itself will change. These conclusions can be drawn from the last four years of the Reurba project. The collaboration between the Reurba partners has, above all, benefited the projects of the partners themselves. In part thanks to financing from Interreg programme, the rebuilding of Saint Paul's and Saint Mark's Church was completed, plan development in the west of Newcastle has been transformed, GIU in Saarbrücken has been able to complete the revitalisation plan for the centre, the Rotterdam Development Corporation is engaged in intensive consultations with the business community in the Spaanse Polder industrial estate and, finally, the provincial authority of South Holland has been able to establish a clearer development profile for the Stedenbaan project.

The future of the cities in Western Europe will come under severe pressure from stronger international competition, shifts in economic structures, more mobility options and increasingly stringent requirements for residential and business settings.

The role of cities as places to live and work will be increasingly challenged as a result. The cities that fail to respond will miss the boat. In his book 'Cities in Civilisation', Professor Peter Hall says that cities themselves must invest in their own success. That means investing in a combination of artistic creativity, technological innovation and urban organisation. This last element, urban organisation, is essential. Cities used to be creative in the search for solutions to water problems and drains; these days, they have to be creative in making improvements to the living environment. The cities that manage this are one leap ahead. This means that the challenge facing urban regeneration becomes broader as the exclusive concentration on a physical approach is extended to social, economic and cultural areas.

Here, it is worth recalling what the British cultural commentator Theodore Dalrymple wrote about the severe rioting in the French suburbs in 2005: 'These people just want to make it clear that the rule of law does not prevail where they live, that they are a state within a state.' He described this as a form of self-imposed apartheid. Incidentally, these were precisely the neighbourhoods where urban-development professionals went to admire architectural and planning miracles in the 1980s. Clearly, something has gone wrong since.

We will have to pull out all the stops to prevent similar situations. Local areas and neigbourhoods must not become detached from the urban area around them. That does not mean they can't have an identity of their own. On the contrary, in the increasing competition between cities and regions, this will become more and more of a necessity. But this does not mean that neighbourhoods can separate themselves from the city. Areas and neighbourhoods derive their identity from their involvement and participation in networks: 'I network, so I am.' In all respects – cultural, economic, social, etc. – open contacts are required with the surroundings if ‘the talent’ of the neighbourhood or area is to develop properly.

Mark Reede, project manager ReUrbA²