CASE STUDY - Park Hill Flats

Question 1

When did the development of the original Park Hill Estate begin? Why?

Answer 1

1961 - clearance of back to back slum housing which meant council communities needed to be housed.

Question 2

What was the main reason for unemployment in the 1980s? How many people lost their jobs?

Answer 2

Industrial decline and the privatisation of the steel industry.
- 40000 people lost their jobs.

Question 3

When was Park Hill granted Grade II listed status? By what organisation?

Answer 3

1. 1997
2. English Heritage historical charity.

Question 4

What was the place identity and lived experience of Park Hill residents like in the 1960s?

Answer 4

• Neighbours on old terraces were given flats next door to one another in order to maintain familial community bonds
• Park Hill was known as the ‘Streets in the sky’ as the different levels were given old street names to make people moving in feel at ease and able to identify with these places.
• Utopic perspective - in 1963 Park Hill was described as a place that ‘would put back a living heart into the centre of Sheffield.

Question 5

What was the total cost of the original Park Hill construction?

Answer 5

£2.2 million

Question 6

What was the city of Sheffield renowned for? Why?

Answer 6

Sheffield was known as the City of Steel and at its height, 150000 people worked in the Don Valley at the Steelworks.

Question 7

What was the place identity and lived experience of Park Hill residents following the 1980s?

Answer 7

• Following de-industrialisation, the Park Hill area became dilapidated and known as a ‘sink estate’ overwhelmed by poverty, litter and social problems rapidly increased in Sheffield .
• The 1980s Housing Act allowed residents to buy flats for 1/3 of the market value which meant vulnerable tenants became concentrated in the worst council properties (major lack of funding)
• Badly lit walkways and alleys increased the activity of thieves and muggers.

Question 8

Who was the main agent of change for the restoration and redevelopment of Park Hill Flats? When did this take place?

Answer 8

Urban Splash - regeneration took place in 2012.

Question 9

Describe the Urban Splash redevelopment project at Park Hill.

Answer 9

• Palimpsest approach taken to modernise the old estate
• £146 million transformation
• Park Hill went from 8.6% owner occupied to 29% owner occupied in 2015 - many residents argued that the regeneration was used to socially cleanse resident community so it was more appealing to middle class buyers (gentrifying the area)
• 260 mixed tenure homes constructed.

Question 10

What is the place identity and lived experience of Park Hill residents like now?

Answer 10

• The final wave of regeneration will accommodate 350 student homes including an on-site gym and cinema.
• residents believe that the ‘flats are a really exciting project from a historical and social perspective’ and are very impressed by the ‘two floors’ found in most flats.

Question 11

What does the famous graffiti, featured on the Park Hill bridge say? How did Urban Splash use this to their advantage?

Answer 11

‘I love you, Will you marry me?’
- Urban splash exploited the graffiti (with a tragic background story) for PR as a slogan to encourage old Park Hill residents to return to the area
- The proposal was replicated on t-shirts sold for the company launch party.