HUNGATE is a name synonymous with poverty. At the beginning of the last century, the poorest of the poor lived in the filthy tenements crammed into this corner of York. One Hungate child in four died.

Memories of these times are beginning to fade. All the damp and pest-infested houses were demolished during slum clearances before the last war.

Hungate was reborn as a light industrial zone, a part of the city centre all but ignored by residents unless they were parking their car, or having it serviced at one of the garages there.

Now Hungate is to regenerate again. People will move back in, although the new accommodation will offer home comforts beyond the dreams of the early 20th century residents.

Housing is only one part of an envisioned £100 million redevelopment. The site will also be used for office and leisure use; interestingly, it has been suggested that Hungate could become home to some of the sports facilities displaced from the revamped Barbican Centre.

Nothing, the developers say, is set in stone. Bosses at Crosby Homes are inviting residents to help shape the ten-acre site; they are "putting local residents at the heart of local planning".

This turns the usual approach on its head. The developers are asking people what they would like to see, rather than presenting them with a finished plan, only to tinker around its edges when the objections come in.

Canvassing and - most importantly - listening to residents' views should help to offset the "us against them" wrangling that has beset other York developments, notably Coppergate Riverside.

Of course, Hungate is not situated in anything like as sensitive a position as Coppergate II. A well-designed, mixed-use scheme could only improve what is, at present, an instantly forgettable urban environment.

Taken with everything else on the drawing board - Stonegate Walk, the Monks Cross business parks and the rest - the £100 million Hungate development confirms York's booming status.

Updated: 10:10 Monday, February 04, 2002