The project is a three-year research program to develop and implement a framework for the evaluation of the Urban Renewal programs currently being developed by the NSW Department of Housing for its housing estates. The project is jointly funded by the Department and the Australian Research Council (ARC).
While the framework will be concerned to monitor the outcomes of renewal within estates, a particular focus of the evaluation methodology will be in understanding the impacts of urban renewal programs on the neighbourhoods surrounding the renewal areas. An additional concern is to monitor the effect that public housing investment in an area might stimulate complementary private sector investment. This will entail addressing the issue of how the social cost: benefit outcomes of renewal programs can be effectively measures and addressed.
The cost or social burden of Australian Public Housing is a significant impost on the wider community. The management of public housing is also under increasing scrutiny and calls for more accountability are common. The overall aim of this project is to provide the NSW Department of Housing with a viable monitoring and evaluation framework to enable in-house monitoring of renewal projects into the future.
Urban Renewal Policy, Program and Evaluation Review
Kristian Ruming, Research Paper No. 4, May 2006