Cities and regions

Urban Regeneration Companies (URC)

Urban Regeneration Companies (URCs) are companies limited by guarantee which are established by a local authority (or authorities), the relevant Regional Development Agency, and (usually) the Homes and Communities Agency, the Government's national housing and regeneration agency. The primary role of a URC is to address significant latent development opportunities by developing and managing implementation of a plan, agreed by the key stakeholders following public consultation, to build business confidence and realise a collective vision for the future of the area. They are most effective in regional or sub-regional urban centres, where there is currently economic under-performance.

Where are they based?

Following recommendations in the Urban Task Force Report, in 1999/2000 the Government supported the establishment of three pilot URCs in Liverpool, East Manchester and Sheffield.

The Urban White Paper (November 2000) proposed a programme of about 12 new URCs over the next few years. Ministers confirmed in the URC Policy Stock-take in 2004 that there should be no arbitrary limit placed on the numbers of URCs, nationally or in each region. Subsequently the number of URCs increased to 22.

Further information

See the website: www.urcs-online.co.uk (external link) for further information on URCs, in particular:

  • a summary note covering each  ongoing and former URC-   a link to the individual website of each URC
  • a set of the standard URC documents
  • a collection of papers from previous URC Conferences and Symposia
  • a number of guidance notes providing good practice advice for URCs
  • a variety of research papers relating to URCs/Urban Regeneration

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