From the 1970s onwards the European cities covered by this study have all suffered from multiple problems caused by profound economic restructuring. The seven cities – Belfast, Bilbao, Bremen, Leipzig, Saint-Étienne, Sheffield and Torino – all showed signs of recovery from decline, although the level of recovery varied considerably between them. The impact of industrial decline and its historic trajectory have been described in detail in the case study chapters of this book in Part Two.

Urban recovery can be defined as progress in overcoming the problems associated with economic restructuring and industrial decline, such as population loss, job losses, urban decay and increasing social deprivation. Urban recovery is the outcome of a complex interaction of different factors. The following changes can be found in cities that are successfully recovering:

• • overcoming their structural problems;

• • adapting to the requirements of changing political and economic conditions;

• • alleviating the worst consequences of the crisis;

• • implementing successful regeneration strategies;

• • improving the overall quality of life;

• • creating a path towards a sustainable future.

A main aim of our research was to establish whether the recovery in selected cities was real and if it could be supported by measurable evidence. Alongside establishing whether recovery is actually taking place and how dynamic it is, a second aim was to understand how it was achieved. By examining the specific responses to the crisis, we gained insight into recovery activities, in the hope that they could be useful to other cities with similar problems. In this chapter we set out to pull together the many strands of evidence collected, both quantitative and qualitative, both observed and documented, to measure as clearly as we can progress under certain leading themes, relating to the performance of cities. The evidence is valid up to the end of 2008, and therefore does not take into account the big financial and economic changes unleashed during 2008. However, most of the indicators, except the economic ones, are rather slow moving and evolve over decades. Therefore we believe that they capture real changes that lay the ground for quite fundamental new directions.

There is already a substantial body of literature dealing with the process of urban regeneration and related issues, but our aim is to provide additional evidence and insight into this complex process of change.