Urban Entrepreneurialism in Aston - Is It Working - Essay Example

We want affordable, quality housing. We want our children to have no need to worry about tomorrow; their biggest concern should be striving to do well at school. We want to know that if the need arises there is quality, affordable healthcare available. We want to give our children a better life than what we have. We want to be able to live comfortably in our old age. Lastly, we want to be proud of our communities. However, given the unique problems faced by center cities, such as Aston, can this attempt at urban entrepreneurialism be effective at combating the extreme poverty and unemployment areas like Aston's face?

Urban Renewal, Urban entrepreneurialism, Urban Revitalisation, or Urban Renaissance – by whatever name called, the concept behind it, no matter where one resides, holds fundamental desires every person strives for. We want to feel safe in our homes and on our streets; we want to make a decent living that will sustain our families. We want affordable, quality housing. We want our children to have no need to worry about tomorrow; their biggest concern should be striving to do well at school.

We want to know that if the need arises there is quality, affordable healthcare available. We want to give our children a better life than what we have. We want to be able to live comfortably in our old age. Lastly, we want to be proud of our communities. In the mid-1990s the government saw the need to revitalize our major cities after the industrial decline in the 1980s and the economic instability that proceeded it. People were flowing out of centre city for the suburbs, the industry was leaving, crime was on the rise, and a host of economic and social problems were happening in our major cities.

In an initiative to revitalize urban England, the government implemented a plan to “create sustainable communities, improve the quality of life of their citizens and revive local economies” (“Making it Happen” 2004, p. 11).  In order to achieve this, the government instituted a ‘core cities’ revitalization plan, with Birmingham being one of those cities.