Lean Urban Regeneration Through Inclusion, Sharing, and Co-Creation

Urban regeneration has traditionally focused on large-scale developments that aim at increasing the livability and vitality of disadvantaged areas. Alternative views of urban regeneration have emerged to challenge such a structural approach. These novel ideas reflect contextual changes in progressive and innovative Western countries that embrace the culture of experimentation, prefer sharing to ownership, and emphasize participation and inclusion as fundamental aspects of public governance. This article elaborates the idea of lean urban regeneration in the progressive welfare society context, with a special view of citizen and stakeholder involvement through inclusion, sharing, and co-creation. Empirical research utilizes mini cases of the largest cities in the growth triangle of Finland. This article identifies the manifestations of lean urban regeneration and discusses its preconditions and ability to tackle urban development challenges. The results emphasize the framing nature of inclusion, the underutilization of sharing, and the key role of co-creation in lean urban regeneration. A particular potential of lean interventions is based on co-creation as the core of multimodal or hybrid regenerative projects that are firmly anchored on economic inclusion. By utilizing the input of residents, entrepreneurs, and other local stakeholders, it is possible to open up a path to integrated high-leverage activities with a potential to alleviate structural urban problems.