Abstract

QUEIROS, Margarida. Integrated urban revitalisation in Montreal: lessons from local development initiatives. Finisterra [online]. 2010, n.89, pp.47-77. ISSN 0430-5027.

This paper reflects upon an integrated territorial initiative known as RUI (Integrated Urban Revitalization), which has been implemented in a number of Montreal neighbourhoods that have been particularly afflicted by poverty and social exclusion. In these areas, a series of Integrated Urban Revitalization pilot-projects have been implemented with a view to creating new development opportunities. The inter-sectoral RUI approach (health, education, crime prevention, housing, employment, transportation, environment...) advances governance, gives rise to a new generation of networks and partnerships and exposes structures to participative democracy. The RUI initiative also purports to contribute to rebuilding the identity and culture of disadvantaged people, strengthening territorial bonds (the neighbourhood as a place of belonging and social interaction) and reinforcing territorial cohesion. The RUI incorporates a bottom-up logic and constitutes a stimulus to the social economy by reinforcing the networks and institutional capacity of Montreal’s society and economy, but the State cannot afford not to participate in the quest for a fairer and more sustainable urban development model. Some of the lessons from this experience can be usefully transferred and adapted to other territories subject to exclusion and poverty.

Keywords : Montreal; RUI; urban governance; participatory democracy; social innovation; neighbourhoods.

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