Urban regeneration and social entrepreneurship: A microhistorical study of a Community Land Trust

In this article, we use microhistory to investigate the emergence of social entrepreneurship within historic patterns of urban regeneration. Specifically, we explore the complex temporal processes leading to the formation of Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust (CLT), located in the Granby neighbourhood of Liverpool, UK. Drawing on archival sources, we explore the changing composition of Granby by constructing a microhistorical narrative that analyses the context and consequences of multiple macro- and micro-level attempts at neighbourhood regeneration. This allows us to elaborate on how the Granby CLT emerged in relation to the historic agency of generations of Granby residents and community groups as they interacted with the complex legacies of institutional attempts towards urban change and renewal. In tracing these multiple overlapping historical agencies, we add new theoretical insights relating to the dynamic, intersecting relations through which social entrepreneurship emerges.