Project co-financed by the National Science Center (Narodowe Centrum Nauki NCN) no. 2015/19/D/HS5/01561

The research project focuses on the timely and salient issue of regeneration of degraded urban areas using revolving funding instruments in the form of loans. The project will offer an original contribution to the literature by investigating the under-researched issue of effectiveness of revolving funding made available as part of JESSICA initiative, a new financial engineering instrument introduced into the EU cohesion policy framework for the period 2007-2013. Despite offering new funding possibilities, this initiative is being implemented only in 12 out of 28 EU Member States, while the pace of implementation remains slow. The study will cover all of the Polish regions using this instrument.
The project is based on three assumptions. First, given the observed problems and difficulties encountered in urban regeneration policies and the need for an approach considering their the economic, social and spatial impacts, one can advance a hypothesis that revolving funding instruments such as JESSICA are an effective tool for supporting urban renewal mainly with regard to economic dimension of regeneration process. Second, the study also draws on the assumption that regeneration requires a comprehensive and integrated approach to urban development. Third, it is also assumed that effective
coordination of activities of the various actors involved in urban policy is a further prerequisite for effective urban regeneration initiatives.
The main aims of the project are the following:
(1) to define the characteristics of initiatives supporting regeneration of degraded urban areas in the context of an integrated approach;
(2) to investigate the tools used as part of JESSICA and compare to the model approaches to urban regeneration;
(3) to assess the efficiency of JESSICA solutions across selected European cities and identify the best practices;
(4) to use the findings to drawing policy lessons for the EU urban policy.