Urban policy in the new Scotland: The role of social inclusion partnerships

This paper seeks to address a number of important questions that arise from contemporary urban policy developments within Scotland. First, how far the recent and developing urban policies, most noticeably Social Inclusion Partnerships, of the Scottish Executive are influenced by or diverge from the strategies pursued by previous Conservative and Labour governments. Secondly, how far urban social policy, in a Scottish context, continues to be characterised by discourses of area/community pathology. In order to contextualise these issues, the paper will begin with a brief discussion of New Labour's general approach to 'urban issues' before concentrating on a case study of the Greater Pollok Social Inclusion Partnership. This will enable an examination of the extent to which 'community involvement' under New Labour's social inclusion partnership initiative is markedly different from recent Conservative governments' urban policies in Scotland. © 2004 Taylor & Francis.