Citywide and local strategic partnerships in urban regeneration: can collaboration take things forward?

This article explores the issues around the role of collaboration as an essential mechanism in developing strategies for Citywide and Local Strategic partnerships. This is examined in the context of urban regeneration flowing from policy initiatives that have been introduced over recent years. The article sets the scene for collaboration and its characteristics emphasising the attributes of collaborative advantage. Focusing on the latter it then identifies the impact of collaboration on specific strategy areas. Following this the article examines the applicability of collaboration through a case study of a Citywide partnership superseded by a Local Strategic partnership in Leicester. It argues that there is significant evidence of the impact of collaboration on the selected areas of the particular partnership working, although recognising that significant dysfunctional elements exist at the operational and implementation level.