Chris Wheeler, national head of development (regeneration) at Willmott Dixon Developments, explores why successful regeneration depends on understanding local priorities, measuring long-term outcomes and focusing on the legacy a project leaves behind
Regeneration is often discussed in terms of buildings, infrastructure and investment, but the most important question comes before any of those things:
What does success look like for this place and its communities in 10-, 15- or 20-years’ time?
The answer will be different in every community. One area may prioritise creating jobs. Improving health outcomes, retaining young people or supporting town centre activity may matter more elsewhere.
Successful regeneration starts with evidence
That’s why good regeneration starts with evidence. Before deciding what to build, we need a clear understanding of a place’s challenges, opportunities and long-term ambitions. Development works best when it is shaped around the outcomes a community wants to achieve, rather than assumptions about what it needs or what delivers the quickest short-term return.
In Torbay, where a long-term regeneration programme is being delivered, that approach has been central from the start. Looking beyond individual sites and considering how multiple developments can work together provides greater focus on a bigger question: how can regeneration create lasting social and economic change?
Looking beyond individual projects
Successful regeneration requires balancing great individual developments with an understanding of how they contribute to a place’s wider future. While each project needs to stand on its own merits, lasting change is achieved when developments are planned as part of a longer-term vision.
That requires looking beyond planning obligations and construction milestones. It means understanding local economic conditions, employment patterns, demographics and community needs, then using that insight to inform decision-making.
In Torbay, a Legacy Partnership Board has been established that brings together organisations from across the public and private sectors to define what success should look like over the next 10 to 15 years. Together, stakeholders have identified a range of measures, including employment, health outcomes, homelessness, crime, and retention of young people, to help assess whether regeneration is creating meaningful change.
Importantly, these measures are not designed to demonstrate compliance. They are intended to help shape change and provide a long-term view of whether investment is improving outcomes for local people.
From social value to lasting legacy
Social value plays an important role in every development project. Activities such as school engagement, skills programmes and community initiatives all make a positive contribution. But when we think about regeneration, we believe the conversation needs to go further.
This means increasingly talking about legacy, because it focuses attention on the long-term impact a project leaves behind. The question isn’t simply what is delivered, but what difference it will still be making 10, 15 or 20 years later.
It’s not a new concept, but businesses should use their expertise and resources to support communities beyond their immediate commercial objectives. Successful regeneration requires looking beyond developments and considering the lasting social and economic impact they can have on the places and communities they serve.
That shift in thinking changes the way decisions are made.
By working closely with local stakeholders, it’s easier to identify the issues that matter most to a community and target investment accordingly. In Torbay, this includes supporting employment, skills and economic diversification, helping ensure regeneration contributes to a stronger local economy over time.
Importantly, legacy isn’t something that’s considered once plans have been developed. It must shape decisions from the outset.
Testing decisions against long-term outcomes
Evidence is most valuable when it influences decisions. That’s why socio-economic analysis should form part of the feasibility and development process. As options are considered, they are assessed not only for commercial viability but also for their potential long-term impact on a place. Sometimes that challenges conventional thinking.
A development that delivers the strongest short-term return may not always create the greatest long-term benefit for the community. Equally, an option that initially appears less commercially attractive may generate more jobs, support wider economic activity, and create stronger outcomes over time.
Take a coastal town. A residential scheme may provide a quicker return, but over the longer term a hotel, supported by restaurants and complementary uses, could create employment, attract visitors and bring new spending into the local economy throughout the year. Looking at those wider impacts helps communities make decisions based on long-term outcomes rather than short-term gains.
Considering those factors early enables better-informed decisions and helps ensure developments support wider regeneration objectives rather than operating in isolation.
Building places, not just sites
One of the biggest risks in regeneration is treating every site as a standalone opportunity.
Successful places function as connected systems. Housing, employment, leisure, culture, health and transport all influence one another. Decisions made on one site can affect a town or wider area.
That’s why regeneration requires a broader perspective. Before deciding what to build, we need to understand how different sites, communities and investment opportunities fit together.
In Torbay, that means looking across multiple towns and development opportunities and considering how each contributes to the Bay’s wider future, rather than assessing sites individually.
The objective isn’t simply to deliver development. It is to help create places where people want to live, work and invest, while supporting local authorities and communities to reimagine what those places can become.
A long-term commitment
Many communities have seen decades of initiatives, funding programmes, and shifting priorities. As a result, understandable scepticism about regeneration promises can arise.
The best response isn’t another short-term intervention. It is a clear long-term plan, backed by evidence and measured against real outcomes.
Regeneration isn’t about delivering a quick win. It is about understanding what a place needs to succeed, establishing clear measures of success and making decisions that support those outcomes over time.
When development is guided by evidence and focused on legacy, it can create lasting change. Ultimately, that’s the measure of successful regeneration: not what is delivered when construction finishes, but the difference it makes 10, 15 or 20 years later.
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