Essay: Value creation and real estate developments: a critical analysis in a context of urban regeneration.
The final essay is to be intended as a critical reflection on the concepts and topics absorbed throughout the module and drawing together planning, urban regeneration and real estate development. Regeneration can be a multifaceted process often involving complex networks of partnerships and alliances and influenced by wider factors like social and environmental aspects, valuation, investment appraisal, funding availability, politics, etc.
It is an inherently localised, often capital-intensive process typically involving the production of bespoke and heterogeneous assets and goods. Regeneration schemes can, in turn, produce a range of monetary and non-monetary gains and losses for communities, professionals, regulators, capital providers and developers. Value can be created or destroyed by a real estate development and in a context of urban regeneration it is increasingly important to consider also a wider notion of value that includes the social and environmental benefits created by a project rather than just the monetary gains.
The assignment asks you to analyse a property development project of your choice that is part of a regeneration scheme. The main task is to make a critical analysis of the case and in particular to reflect on the way value has been created and of which type. This involves also a discussion on the development process as a whole, the key agents involved, and the benefits/disadvantages/impacts generated to the surrounding communities.
In doing so, you are encouraged to show critical thinking, meaning that you can pick either a case that has worked or one that has not worked so well; the important thing is that you present evidence to support any argument that is made and that you present a coherent and well-grounded discussion.
To do so you can draw on existing literature and theoretical inputs seen in the lectures and/or applying approaches and techniques of your choice. You are prompted to consult sources proposed on the module Reading List, but you are also encouraged to expand those references with entries that are more specific to the case you choose to discuss.
Selection of the case study:
The choice of case studies is open in terms of size, type, location (big or small, mixed-use, commercial, residential or industrial, UK or overseas), as soon as it remains relevant to the field and context of urban regeneration.
Please do not choose heavy infrastructure cases like roads, ports, sewage works etc. Infrastructure development cases are welcome if they are connected to regeneration schemes which have a real estate element embedded in them and therefore allow you to answer the brief (e.g. HS2).
You can, if you wish, choose a case that is: completed or substantially completed, under construction, proposed. Clearly, for schemes under construction or proposed, you will be dealing with a blend of actual outcomes or events and expected outcomes or events.
Criteria for assessment
The main emphasis of task 1 is on the depth of your understanding of the range of issues shaping a development project in an urban regeneration context and its communication.
In addition to the standard BSP (see MSc handbook) marking criteria for essays we look for:
• Suitability of the selected case study
• Evidence of research Reading and data gathering relevant to the selected case study
• Clear argument development evidence of critical evaluation and analytical thinking
• Good presentation, writing and academic referencing skills
