A Neighbourhood Regeneration Office (NRO) is one of the core approaches developed in REGEN project (REGENeration of neighbourhoods towards a low-carbon, inclusive and affordable built environment) co-financed by the Horizon Europe programme (Built4People Partnership). It is being deployed in four demonstration sites: Beckerich (Luxembourg), Dublin (Ireland), Milan (Italy) and Laredo (Spain). The NROs are meant to be the cornerstone of REGEN’s enactment of lasting behavioural change, but what exactly are they? The main objective of this brief report is to summarize an attempt to conceptualise NRO as an innovative type of physical urban space dedicated to urban regeneration. The has involved extensive research of both literature and practices of related models of One-Stop Shops and ‘third places’. It was followed by collaborative discussions between technical and scientific partners. The resulting insights were subsequently reviewed and refined in consultation with the four demo sites. These sessions allowed to propose the key activities of the NROs, ultimately leading to a practical and tailored operational framework for their implementation within and beyond the REGEN project. Our preliminary results suggest that Neighbourhood Regeneration Offices combine two key functions: 1) support to boost rehabilitation and 2) community-building. By merging these two concepts, NROs aim to provide both practical tools and social interaction opportunities, creating a unique model for urban regeneration. They serve as a bridge between technical support and community engagement, making neighbourhood transformation a shared, accessible, and sustainable in the long-term. The proposed definition of an NRO proposed in this brief report is complemented by the description of NRO’s value proposition and key activities. Presentation of NRO’s clear alignment with the New European Bauhaus principles further contributes to proposing NRO as an attractive and replicable model for urban regeneration in Europe.
Uriarte et al. (Thu,) studied this question.