Introduction

“Regeneration” has been a topic of study and policy since the advent of industrialisation across the globe. The word has been associated mostly with urban and rural areas, as the capitalist organisation of production and the rise in growth were often accompanied by the intensification of disparities between urban and rural regions, the increase in inequality and poverty in the city slums and agricultural areas, the over-exploitation of the natural environment, the marginalisation of disadvantaged groups, and the degradation of the quality of life. These inequalities, resulting from material and non-material forms of deprivation, have been addressed in the literature and have often been related to conceptions and policy measures for so-called renewal and reconstruction with a focus on urban development and spatial planning and reconstruction.