Local governance and the racialisation of urban policy in the UK: The case of urban development corporations

This paper examines the impact of changing patterns of local governance on black and ethnic minority influence over urban policy, focusing on Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) as one aspect of local governance, Evidence is drawn from a recent study of six UDCs, The paper concludes that a contradictory and variable pattern of black and ethnic minority influence is emerging, with processes of exclusion and inclusion occurring, and there is evidence that the emerging system of local governance is producing a marginalisation of issues to do with race, This suggests that it is important to look at the racialisation of policy and policy processes within UDCs, their localities and at a national level in an attempt to analyse and understand these emerging and diverging patterns.