STRATFORD case study Flashcards
What type of regeneration took place?
Sports and Retail led regeneration
Why was there a need for regeneration? (evidence needed)
“-severe economic decline in the late 20th century because there was a decline in imports through the docks
-high levels of crime in the area which has given the area a poor informal perception as people and businesses don’t want to set up in an area they feel unsafe to live in”
Who were the stakeholders involved in the regeneration?
- the Olympic Federation had a large stake in the regeneration of Stratford as they helped coordinated the Olympic infrastructure developments including the stadiums and Olympic park
- local and national government coordinated the scheme, they also helped source and allocate funds for regeneration
- local businesses sought to have an increase in customers without losing their property to increased rent prices
What conflicts occurred between the stakeholders?
- over gentrification of the area would mean that local businesses would have to compete with large brands, to Trade Unions and Chambers of Commerce this would be a concern as small businesses couldn’t cope, but larger organisations would support this due to increased tax
- Olympic village left a legacy of non-affordable housing (gentrification)
What was done for the economy, people and environment?
SOCIAL
-increase in high end services lead to a 4% increase in professional employment roles. Large stores like Waitrose set up in the area. This improves the QOL of the local people but also improves the economy as an increase in employment leads to an increase in taxes and therefore services spending and causes a PME
ENVIRONMENTAL
-6,000 Boris bikes were provided to reduce congestion and carbon output in the city via car exhausts. This improved the air and environment quality but also helps people with poor accessibility if they don’t have a car
ECONOMIC
-Olympic village attracts tourism in the area, hotels and accommodation experienced an economic plume during the olympics.
-agglomeration and clustering of retail services due to Westfield being East London’s hub for retail.
What was done to rebrand the area?
- reimaged as East London’s primary retail and leisure centre which attracts large amounts of customers containing many high end brands. It has a large John Lewis and a 24 hour casino. It also has a 17 screen Vue cinema inside the complex. It’s success is mostly down to its accessibility which lead to the clustering and agglomeration of retail industries.
- a new university was designed to specialise in sports science and sports technology to provide a highly skilled workforce for the sporting facilities present in the are leftover from the olympics.
- rebranding was essential to promote the increased affluence and inspire further investment from businesses but also people who wanted to move into the area
Was the regeneration a success? (evidence needed)
Economic:
• Was home to the 2012 Olympics which not only elevated the area’s positional nationally but also on an international scale. This attracts tourism from a wider geographical region. Tourism has also been maintained post the Olympics through the creation of Westfield shopping centre and West Ham’s home ground.
• Stratford has emerged as East London’s tech hub which has attracted unicorn companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, leading to clustering and agglomeration. This has also led to benefits such as BT’s improved broadband to facilitate the nature of these companies.
• Westfield shopping centre is a world-renowned retail centre that is said to generate £300 million annually. Despite this being a benefit in its own right, the economic sector of the area now lends itself towards tertiary (from retail and tourism) and quaternary (high tech) employment. This stereotypically pay more and hence generate a higher tax revenue for local government, fulling the criteria of these stakeholders. It has also increased the quantity of employment this combating previous idleness. This has benefitted residents. Residents have also benefitted through increased tax as it has increased social spending and therefore the quality of services.
Social:
• By 2030, over 20,000 new homes have been built in the park, about a third of which are affordable. However, this has a created a legacy of unaffordable housing and does mean that approximately two thirds of housing aren’t occupied by local residents. In all likelihood, this is probably because of gentrification and more affluent population now dominating the area, which has forced residents to relocate in cheaper wards where there is less competition. This Has led to social problems like homelessness. (e.g. in Newham between 2009 and 2014, it increased from 1.1 to 7.9 per 1000 households)
• Statistical evidence to suggest aspects of cultural enrichment as there has been a decrease in the number of white British people (34-17%). Yet 14% of crimes are shown to be gang related symbolising a lack of social integration and rather cultural clashes.
• Increased accessibility of Stratford. For example, direct Tube stop with metal petal designs upon exit from the station. This has meant more people are commuting for job opportunities, improving innovation from a wider geographical region. This has meant that under half of the job opportunities created are undertaken by locals. This has created quite a transient population and therefore less local engagement.
• Focus on education through University of east London that specialises in sports has led to an active and educated population (6.2% more are qualified). This could also see a decline in outmigration of people as with education, locals can now alternate higher sector local employment shortages, so the threshold population is met more effectively and hence services are sustained.
Environmental:
• Despite environmental concerns about the inevitable increase in pollution in an area that has become increasingly urbanised and more densely populated, these issues have been eased through the creation of 6000 Boris Bikes and an increase in Direct train access. As a result, due to people averting from cars air pollution has decreased by 8.6%
• There was a lack of infrastructure due to the essence of a decaying post-industrial repository and the environmental quality was poor. For example, the greenway was littered with rubbish and imperishable materials. The scheme has cleaned these areas up improving the informal perception of the area and preventing excessive damage to the environment.
• There were aims to make the 2012 Olympics the greenest and most sustainable yet. Therefore, the area set out many BAPs (biodiversity action plan) over a five-year period which provided detailed analyses of local wildlife with key habitats and species marked out for particular regions.
• The importance of the Lea Valley on which Stratford lies for local wildlife cannot be underestimated and therefore the process of cleaning the river helped to maintain aquatic ecosystems.
• That said, with any urban regeneration scheme precious greenbelt land (for example the Manor Garden Society Allotments -MGS, which were situated right in the heart of the park) were transformed into a built environment, thus altering naturalised habitats which had seamlessly integrated themselves into the surrounding urban area and acted as a buffer zone for CO2
• Also, the increase in commuters and population in general has led to a greater CO2 emission which has obvious drawbacks for the environment.
• Stratford was a previous industrial site and therefore the ground was shown to be contaminated by a vast amount of toxic radioactivity. Studies show that there wasn’t enough time to build on the site and do a full decontamination process so this stage was skipped and therefore this could have unforeseen environmental issues
-formal perceptions denote an increase in employment and income so the national government see the regeneration as a success. However informal perceptions of local residents show they believe that the regeneration inspired further “gang culture”
