Paul Lawless is Professor of urban policy at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. He has written six books and more than 50 articles on aspects of urban policy in the UK and US. He has secured funding from the Leverhulme, Rowntrees and Nuffield Foundations, and from the UK government's Economic and Social Research Council. Since 2001 he has been directing the national evaluation of the UK government's New Deal for Communities (NDC). The NDC Programme has strong claims to be the most intensive area based based urban initiative ever launched in either Europe or North America. It is a 10 year initiative, solidly based on community engagement with the objective of achieving change in outcomes areas such as education, jobs and health. It provides a remarkable laboratory through which to explore the problems of reducing poverty in developed societies.
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