Urban regeneration and re-imaging

Urban regeneration + urban re-imaging= rebranding-->to help sell an urban area to a new target market

Urban regeneration and Urban re-imaging are different. 
Definitions:
Urban regeneration: the investment of capital in the revival of old, urban areas by either improving what is there or clearing it away and rebuilding.


Urban re-imaging: changing the image of an urban area and the way people view it. 

Urban regeneration:  Over time, old parts of town would suffer decline. The factories would move elsewhere, resulting in jobs lost. Quality of life and housing is poor, so the place needs to be regenerated, as in 'brought back to life'. Regeneration includes:

• transforming the economy of the area by encouraging new businesses to replace those that have closed/moved elsewhere. Employers--people who might provide employment in the area by using/buying shops or offices need to be brought in to the scheme as they can provide new work which hopefully improves the economy. 
• upgrade the quality of the built environment by a) finding new uses for old and often empty buildings, b) clearing them away to make way for new ones. (The London Docklands is a good case study which I have talked about in another post. The old warehouses in the run-down dockland area were converted into luxury apartments and flats which also transformed its image.)

Urban re-imaging: To change the reputation of a city or an area by: 

• focusing on a new identity/function--Docklands had more services such as pubs and cinemas so it became the new 'cool' place to be. 
• changing the quality and appearance of the built-up area--Docklands was completely redeveloped and regenerated, new industries would locate there so there were more jobs and it was a good brownfield site development, re-using space and saving land in the process (reclaiming land and putting it to another use) 

Case study of inner city redevelopment: London Docklands

You can refer to page 168-169 of Key Geography for GCSE textbook.

During 19th Century-port of London busiest in the world
Surrounding the docks were:

• many industries using imported goods
• high-density, poor quality housing (typical old inner-city area)

1950s-ships become bigger = unable to reach London's docks

By 1970s, area became derelict, with few jobs, few services and poor living conditions. 

Many people forced to leave area to look for work + better quality of life.

Because: 

• traditional jobs in docks were lost (manual, unskilled, unreliable and poorly paid)
• most housing was substandard-lacking basic amenities (services e.g. water, sewerage, electricity..) and located in poor-quality environment

When textbooks talk about amenities, they mean:

Amenities definition: A desirable or useful feature/facility of a building/place. e.g. basic services in housing like electricity, water, sewerage... 

In 1981, the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up to try to improve:

• social
• environmental
• and economic conditions of the area

LDDC given 3 main tasks: 

1. Improve social conditions by:

• creating new housing
• creating new recreational facilities
• improving shopping facilities

2. Improve economic conditions by:

• creating new jobs
• improving transport system (to and within area)

3. Improve environmental conditions by: 

• reclaiming derelict land 
• cleaning up docks
• planting trees
• creating areas of open space (people like parks and peaceful green surroundings)

To clarify if you're confused: 

Derelict land: land that is damaged or abandoned and cannot be put to use until damage is repaired 

Reclaiming derelict land is: to recover land that has lost its productivity and to make it usable again

What improvements were made after 1981?

Social Improvements


1. Housing

• 22,000 new homes created (many are former warehouses converted to luxury flats)
• 10,000 refurbished former terraced houses (Refurbish: to renovate and redecorate smth esp. a building

-In 1981 population= 40,000

-In 2000 population= 85,000

2. Services

• several huge new shopping malls
• post-16 college and campus for new University of East London
• leisure facilities: watersports marina, national indoor sports centre 

Economic Improvements


1. Employment

• number of jobs increased, In 1981= 27,000  In 2000= 90,000
• many new firms and financial institutions e.g. Stock Exchange, ITV Studios, newspaper offices
• many high-rise office blocks, esp. at Canary Wharf

2. Transport

• Docklands Light Railway links area with central London
• Jubilee Line Underground extension
• City Airport
• Many new roads, including M11 link 

Environmental Improvements

• 750 hectares of derelict land reclaimed 
• 200,000 trees planted
• 130 hectares of open space created

However, remember that not everyone was happy about the changes, because not everybody benefited:


Negative effects on the local people: (in descending order of importance to me, others may be more important for you, but structure your answers in an exam so that you write what's most important first!)

• new jobs went to people living outside the area, as local people did not have the technical skills (a lot of new jobs created were in finance/media industries--using high tech equipment--local people not skilled enough to do these types of jobs)
• a lot of new housing far too expensive for locals
• more money was spent on providing infrastructure (expensive offices + houses) and a clean environment for office workers; than on services (e.g. hospitals and care for elderly, health + educational facilities for local people)
• noise + air pollution (dust) from the building
• prices in area generally increased (e.g. in shops, bars etc.) --newcomers were wealthy, causing local shop and recreational prices to rise--
• newcomers did not mix with local people--tension--causing a breakdown of East Ender's community