Race, Urban Policy and Urban Problems: A Critique on Current UK Practice

This article argues that central government urban policy and programmes during the 1980s have failed to provide a significant contribution to the needs of black non-statutory organisations and inner city communities. In part 1, the emphasis within urban policy of improving local economies and creating employment is seen to provide an overly narrow objective. Urban problems in general, and racism in particular, are multi-dimensional processes that require strategic responses. This argument is advanced in part 2, through a detailed empirical discussion of the Urban Programme (UP) and Inner Area Programmes (IAPs) in the London Boroughs of Brent and Southwark. It concludes that the black non-statutory sector has been increasingly excluded from participation in the UP and, whilst there are a number of causal factors, a principal cause must be located in central government urban policy and objectives.