To identify causes of urban decline, to recommend solutions that will bring people back into our cities and to establish a vision for urban regeneration based on the principles of: • design excellence • social well-being • environmental responsibility • within a viable economic and legislative framework

In 1998 Richard Rogers was invited to chair a Government Task Force charged with translating sustainable urban development principles into strategic advice for planning authorities in England. The Urban Task Force was faced with 3 specific urban challenges: • decline of regional inner-city areas and communities • an official prediction of a requirement for 4 million additional households • suburban sprawl consuming greenfield sites at an alarming rate, causing social and economic decline within inner-city areas

The necessity for urban growth is an opportunity to reconfigure English cities and communities and the UTF’s report ‘Towards an Urban Renaissance’ is a comprehensive package championing a holistic approach to urban regeneration.