Delivering a successful new community requires a clear understanding of how assets generated by the development process will be managed in perpetuity. New Garden Cities must demonstrate how such management will be undertaken on behalf of the community.
The stewardship task goes beyond the management of green space to cover the broadest range of community assets, including the active and positive management of everything from arts provision to commercial estates and utility companies. Putting local people at the heart of this process can generate increased local support, creativity, and entrepreneurialism.
Many local authorities and private sector partners delivering new communities are interested in stewardship, and several have committed to the creation of some form of stewardship body and are actively seeking the right models and funding to make it work. The majority are at very early stages, and this Practical Guide will help them with next steps, but it also offers insights that will be valuable to those at any stage in the process.