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"Urban Renaissance" is an expression that trips neatly off the tongue these days, but few are aware of its true meaning. At English Partnerships, it is the bread and butter of our work: creating quality environments for people to go about their working and social lives, in prosperous and safe communities. The urban taskforce highlighted the need for quality urban design and urban spaces that were not only functional but attractive, feeding the spirit of the community as well as the economy.

The fact that the urban renaissance is as high on the political agenda as it is today is in itself a significant achievement and a testament to the progress achieved. No renaissance is truly recognised during its own time; only later is the magnitude of change considered in its entirety. Regeneration is a tough business and the urban renaissance is a tough act to pull off. A fully delivered urban renaissance is a programme of vast social, political and economic change, requiring a deep commitment to that vision by all involved. The changes of the past year have focused EP to meet that challenge.

In 1999 EP's role changed dramatically. Our regional offices became the core of the property teams of the newly created regional development agencies and we merged with the Commission for New Towns. Our focus shifted to managing major national and cross-regional programmes and developing our land in the new towns to accommodate household growth in well designed, sustainable new communities.

We are concentrating on national issues where our work can have the most impact. Even before the urban taskforce reported, we were working with regional and local partners to create a city-centre partnership mechanism. This early work laid the foundation for the first urban regeneration company, Liverpool Vision, which was launched last year and was swiftly followed by the creation of two more, in East Manchester and Sheffield. All are making rapid progress and, in keeping with the Liverpool "vision", we have recently issued the development brief for the city's Kings Waterfront, a key strategic site adjacent to Albert Dock, to create a vibrant mixed-use scheme with a strong leisure theme.

Our coalfield regeneration programme, delivered regionally by the RDAs to ensure appropriate local impact, has grown to 60 sites and will continue to expand. The national portfolio approach allows sites with development potential to subsidise others that may never pay their way, bringing maximum regeneration value to communities across the country.

We are taking the vision of creating a modern sustainable community and making it a reality

The millennium communities at Greenwich and Yorkshire's Allerton Bywater are testing grounds for a new vision in regeneration and mixed-use development. We are taking the urban renaissance vision of creating a modern sustainable community and making it a reality. These are models for the future, which will be refined in the making.

What has been achieved at Greenwich is clearly visible: new housing that is selling out as soon as it is offered, a green landscape replacing a derelict gasworks, an award-winning low-energy supermarket and new riverside walkways. Balancing innovation, imaginative design and deliverability in the marketplace is not an easy task. After detailed consultation with the most important stakeholders at Allerton Bywater – the existing residents – an outline planning application has now been lodged. The residents will be further consulted as the detailed applications are developed.

Mindful of the ministerial challenge to accommodate as much projected housing growth as possible on brownfield land, the National Land Use Database is being used to relieve the pressure on the countryside by identifying derelict or under-used sites for redevelopment. We are also meeting the challenge by planning high-quality urban extensions. Our sites in Basildon and Northampton were the first to apply the Prince's Foundation initiative "Sustainable Urban Extensions". We are committed to sharing best practice as widely as possible, as demonstrated by our Urban Design Compendium, produced with the Housing Corporation. This will ensure that the skills needed to effect the urban renaissance will reach professionals across the country.