Legacy and Land: The role of legacy motive in improving the quality of housing developments in the UK

This research correlates with the growing popularity of legacy schemes in the UK. There has been a number of studies pertaining to this model of housing delivery, whereby landowners take on a strong stewardship role over the development process. However, there is little evidence concerning the relation between legacy and housing quality. In order to address this gap, the role of legacy motive is investigated through a literature review and a case study approach, which included interviews with key stakeholders, a household survey and an analysis of planning documentation. The existing literature illustrates the prevalence of the concept of legacy in many academic fields. Based on various motivation theories it is argued that leaving a legacy is a universal human motive and a fundamental aspect of human existence. The analysis of three contemporary housing estates provides further evidence for that and the fact that the salience of legacy motive is strongly related to the long-term landownership and the amount of control over the development process. It is demonstrated that legacy motive affects landowners’ decision-making on instrumental, social, expressive and intrinsic level, and leads to a more long-term and socially conscious view of housing schemes. The notion of “higher quality” is also called into question. Components of housing quality are identified and the differences between stakeholders’ understanding are analysed, illustrating the conflicting agendas in the development process. It is argued that in the face of complexities of the planning system and the concept of housing quality itself, effective collaboration between stakeholders is paramount and partnership models of delivery produce the best results. Finally, by drawing together evidence on landowners’ decision-making, their role in the development process and stakeholders’ perceptions on housing quality, it is demonstrated that legacy motive can translate itself into additional investments in various aspects of housing developments. And while this research is careful about using the word “better” to describe the development outcomes of legacy schemes (due to the subjective nature of the concept of housing quality), it has been demonstrated that they have the potential to deliver “more”. Therefore, it is argued that legacy motive can, and indeed has, led to higher quality of housing developments.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Socha, Margo

Contributors dc:contributor

• Vellinga, Marcel
• Petter, Hugh
• Adam, Robert

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/54JE-PB10

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:0b6267e7-3710-4ea2-a45c-903477b9686b:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1