Area-based initiatives in Denmark - kvarterløft

Summary

In 1993 the Danish Government established the so-called Urban Committee with the purpose of addressing increasing social problems and concentration of immigrants and refugees on a number of social housing estates primarily located in the suburbs. A programme was launched in 1994 and nearly 500 social housing estates were given some kind of support (Skifter Andersen 2002).
The Urban Committee launched a new urban program (kvarterløft) in 1996, and the following year, seven major urban areas around the country were selected for improvement. Its main properties are:

• Kvarterløft addresses the neighbourhood, not the single citizen or the single property owner
• Kvarterløft is comprehensive in the sense that it is to be based on a co-ordinated and integrated effort with co-ordination between different public sectors
• Kvarterløft is based on the participation and strength of local actors
• Kvarterløft's point of departure is an analysis of the neighbourhood’s potentials and problems

The fundamental idea of the kvarterløft programme is to combine aid to people and places and moreover with the explicit aim of doing it in a way that involves the community. In this sense urban renewal policy has moved much closer to the citizen compared with earlier urban renewal projects in inner city neighbourhoods. Moreover, it is not only concerned with physical improvements but also with social and economic changes. Kvarterløft can be characterised as a ‘bottom-up’ strategy which favours the active participation by residents and development of partnerships. Kvarterløft seeks to capture a broad range of problems in individual areas with the aim of integrating means and aims across sectors and projects.
The first phase in all seven projects was a planning phase. Local residents, local firms and public schools, kindergartens, libraries and other local institutions were invited to participate in public meetings and bring forward suggestions, ideas, and wishes for the future development of their neighbourhood. The first phase ended in spring 1998 with the completion of plans and their approval in the various city councils. Finally in summer 1998 the Minister and the mayors of the five cities signed agreements of co-operation (contracts) which have been renegotiated once a year ever since. The contracts specify activities, funding as well as criteria for success of the planned activities, e.g. in terms of number of jobs created or physical regeneration activities implemented. The plans of the seven kvarterløft projects share some similarities especially regarding their focus on outdoor regeneration projects that aim to stimulate the residents' sense of belonging as many of the seven neighbourhoods are characterised by being split in two or more sub-neighbourhoods.
The kvarterløft programme has the following dimensions:

• A social dimension targeted at integration of immigrants and strengthening social contacts by means of activities, in schools and improvement of the ‘social infrastructure’ with emphasis on drug and alcohol addicts as well as residents with mental illnesses.
• An employment dimension targeted at creating local jobs through co-operation between local businesses and job referral services.
• An architectural dimension by building improvement and by creation of recreational and other spaces.
• A traffic dimension aimed at reducing traffic noise.
• An ecological dimension which is considered in relation to renewal of both housing and buildings.
• A cultural dimension targeted at creating cultural activities and institutions as well as sports and recreational facilities.

Organisation of kvarterløft
The individual kvarterløft projects are organised in co-operation between municipalities and area-based project co-ordinators. The content of indivi-dual projects is decided by residents in the area, local project co-ordinators and the municipality. The work is organised by contracts between involved parties that also specifies aims and criteria for success. A state-organised secretariat has been established with the purpose of providing service for all kvarterløft projects (support, inspiration, counselling and control) and collecting experience from the projects with the aim of contributing to the formulation of an urban policy.

Financing and activities
Originally there was a negotiated budget of 750 million DKK for all seven kvarterløft projects. Within this budget local municipalities should contribute with between 25 and 50 percent of the costs of the individual projects. In addition to this the municipalities contributed with DKK 244 million, and another DKK 300 million were received from other sources such Avedøre Stationsby ministries, funds, private firms etc. In total has been used DKK 1.3 billion corresponding to in average DKK 20000 per inhabitant in the seven neighbourhoods.
Ninety per cent of the money was used for investments in physical improvements in the areas: 56 per cent in housing, 17 per cent in outdoor areas and 17 per cent in facilities like community centres etc. Among other activities was: promotion of employment and trade, social projects and integrating measures, cultural activities, ecological projects, promotion of local identity and participation.
Outcome of kvarterløft projects - conclusions of an evaluation

The evaluation
The main objective of the evaluation, made by Danish Building and Urban Research, was to examine if there had been a new positive development in the seven neighbourhoods during the first four years of the kvarterløft programme 1997-2001.
Like many other evaluations of area-based initiatives this evaluation suffers from being made too primaturely. The first one to two years of the programme were used by the neighbourhoods to make plans in co-operation with local citizens. Therefore the efforts have been put into work in the neighbourhoods for only for a little over two years, and many of the physical improvements were not finished at the time when the evaluation was made. As a result it was possible to measure only tendencies in the development of the areas rather than the final results.
The evaluation concentrated on measuring the changes of development in the neighbourhoods from 1998 to 2002 concerning:

• the image of the neighbourhood and the affiliations to it among residents
• plans among residents for moving away, and reasons for moving
• reasons for not moving
• reasons for newcomers to move in
• mobility rate among residents
• social and ethnical composition of newcomers
• social and ethnical composition of residents
• employment among residents
• residents' assessment of the physical appearance of streets, squares, green areas and physical nuisances
• residents' assessment of visible social problems in the neighbourhood such as drug abusers, crime and vandalism, social conflicts etc.
• residents' assessment of personal security
• residents' assessment of social relations and social networks in the neighbourhoods
• residents' assessment of local meeting places and social activities and events
• the economic development in the neighbourhood concerning working places
• private and public services

The evaluation was based on two surveys carried out among residents in respectively 1998 and 2002 and on data from public registers on residents, dwellings and firms in the neighbourhoods for those years. The last set of data were compared with data from the municipalities, in which the areas were located, and with data from the foregoing period 1994-1998. This was to determine whether there had been a development in the neighbourhoods different from the development of the rest of the municipality and different from the period before the programme was implemented.

Conclusions from the evaluation
The main conclusion from the evaluation is:

There have been different developments in the seven neighbourhoods, but as a whole the efforts have succeeded in making changes that have made the neighbourhoods more attractive and the residents more positive towards them. These changed attitudes among residents have to some extent resulted in a reduced mobility and changes in the composition of newcomers. But this has not yet resulted in a more mixed composition of residents during the short time the efforts have been made.

The image of all the neighbourhoods was improved considerably from 1998 to 2002 and more residents felt affiliated with them. This led to fewer residents with plans to move away and the actual mobility rate was reduced in five of the areas. Moreover, the composition of newcomers was changed towards more people in work in three neighbourhoods. This was influenced by the way local authorities distributed vacant dwellings in social housing. However, only in one of the neighbourhoods there was a change in the composition of residents towards fewer people with early pension or welfare benefits.
The physical improvements have resulted in a more positive evaluation among residents of streets and squares. The evaluation of green areas has been improved much in neighbourhoods with few or poor green areas.. Physical nuisances like traffic or noise was considerably reduced in three neighbourhoods.
To a greater or smaller extent new facilities have been established for common social and cultural activities in community centres etc. This has led to a more positive evaluation of local social life and a more positive attitude towards neighbours and other residents. However, the supply of private services like retail shops, restaurants and entertainment has been reduced in most of the neighbourhoods - partly because it has not been included in the efforts to improve these services. Moreover, the amount of jobs in the neighbourhoods has been reduced.
Visible social problems like alcoholics and drug users have been reduced in four of the areas. Moreover, the residents' fear of crimes such as burglary, vandalism and violence has been much reduced in three neighbourhoods and somewhat reduced in others.

By og Byg Results 028. Hans Skifter Andersen, Louise Kielgast. In Danish.

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