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You will recognise many familiar names in the shortlists for the 2005 awards, from regeneration agency English Partnerships through to the nation’s biggest housebuilder, Barratt Homes. There are also smaller players, such as Greenwich-based architect BPTW, proving that you don’t have to be a massive company to work in regeneration.

Large or small, the many organisations shortlisted in the 2005 awards have worked their way tirelessly through complex negotiations and processes, over many months and in some cases many years, to make regeneration happen – and often in the least promising environments.

That is a considerable achievement for them, but it is even more of an achievement for the communities in which they are working. It is the people in Gateshead, Cardiff, West Midlands, Brighton, Glasgow and Ecuador who really know what a difference regeneration can make.

Regeneration is providing people in these and many other areas with well-designed, more welcoming and safer streets in which to live. It is giving them better-quality new and refurbished homes in which to raise their families. It is improving the overall image of their area so that more people want to come and live alongside them.

To make communities truly sustainable, regeneration is encouraging large and small businesses into neglected urban areas, bringing job opportunities, shops and a fresh vibrancy to an area. Leisure facilities, often created using bold landmark architecture, are attracting visitors to come and spend their time in urban areas that hitherto had little to offer.

The government has laid the foundations for this regeneration to happen. Its sustainable communities plan is promoting regeneration activity in both the housing growth areas of the South and the housing market renewal areas of the North. Our New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal strategy aims to remedy deprivation, and the Decent Homes standard is improving basic housing conditions. Through the regional development agencies, we are spreading activity to all regions of the country, and further initiatives such as the NHS LIFT community health centre programme are providing the essential infrastructure of people’s lives.

Government research and attention is being focused on making our cities better places to live. Earlier this month in Nottingham, I concluded a series of summits held in eight core cities across England. During these summits, I met local authorities, local businesses, service providers and young people to get their views on the strengths, weaknesses and the future of their home city.

These cities are already going through massive regeneration programmes, but there is still more work to be done. Our objective is to realise the full potential of England’s cities and make sure that they rank among the very best in Europe. The summits aim to draw out the experiences and the lessons of the past. The schemes highlighted in these awards are valuable in providing their own examples of best practice.