Restorative cities : successes and challenges in current practice

Abstract

This research aims to identify some of the successes and challenges which restorative cities have accomplished and faced through practice in three different research sites, Hull, UK; Whanganui, NZ; and Canberra, Australia. The restorative city concept is based strongly on restorative justice and restorative practice. Literature from all three branches of restorative approaches is reviewed here. A mixed methods approach was taken to attempt to answer the research question involving six interviews and an interpretation of existing statistics. A thematic analysis was used to identify some of the key successes and challenges within these cities throughout their development for the purpose of informing current practice and future growth. Statistics were presented in order to contest claims of success and to provide a baseline for future research in this area. This research seeks to provide a list of common successes and challenges from these cities. It is hoped that this list will help to inform current and future practice within restorative cities. Finally, this thesis discusses the significance of the findings and proposes some prospective areas for future research.