Topic 4 - EQ3 Flashcards
What is the role of national government?
The UK gov is responsible for considering the level of inequality across the country, as disparity between places doesn’t aid a countries overall development. There’s a widely perceived and evident gap between the north and south of the UK, in which the south is dominated by London. The NE of the UK has had a a lack of investment into rail infrastructure, which has led to large inequalities and lack of labour mobility.
How has the NE struggled due to lack of investment of transport infrastructure?
A 65km journey from Middlesbrough to Newcastle takes 90mins, but a journey of the same distance from Chelmsford (Essex) to London only takes 36mins. The main road between Manchester and Leeds (M62) is also often jammed, and the main road from Newcastle to Scotland isn’t even a motorway! Spending per capita on infrastructure is £2595 per person in London, but just £5 in the NE. The gov has tried to address this by developing a ‘northern powerhouse’, where infrastructure invest will connect major industrial towns and cities in the NE and NW.
What are some examples of UK infrastructure investment?
Some decisions about infrastructure are focused on expanding capacity at London’s main airports as well as building a crossrail to ease congestion in Central London. Other schemes outside the capital region include the HS2, a rail link which is planned between London and Birmingham and then to Leeds and Manchester. High Speed 1 has already been constructed between London St Pancras and Kent.
What is the HS2 benefits?
-It will improve journey times between major cities, and an estimated 60 000 jobs will be created for construction.
-Benefit over 30million people
-Reduce congestion as well as pollution
-Less lorries on roads, as freight can travel quickly by rail.
What are the issues with the HS2?
-It will pass through Chilterns AONB.
-There are no intermediate stations, so communities along the route but nit in major cities won’t benefit from the scheme.
-Tickets will be extremely expensive, a London-Manchester ticket could cost £240.
-They are no longer expanding the railway to the NE and Leeds, removing one of the main benefits of it.
What is the definition of infrastructure?
It is the basic physical systems of a place.
What are the effects of planning decisions?
Plans for development can potentially have significant impacts on the natural environment and peoples lives, but the decisions may be deemed as being in the national interest. The UK government can make decisions that affect the rate and type of development (planning laws, house-building targets, housing affordability, permission for fracking), which in turn affect the economic regeneration of both urban and rural regions.
Why are planning laws in place?
Many planning laws are in place to limit the negative impact of development and regeneration on the social, economic and natural environment. Equally, because of the rise in single owner-occupancy, longer life expectancy and a lack of housing supply, house prices have rapidly risen in the UK. The gov is under pressure to get builders to build many more homes. Targets weren’t specified, but an estimated 1mill new homes would be needed between 2015 and 2020.
What is fracking?
Fracking is the extraction of shale gas from the ground in order to make energy. The decisions to hand out permits for this are particularly controversial. Since the UK will be forced to import 70% of gas by 2020, regulations are being loosened to make it easier for local councils to win approval for fracking. There is estimated 37million m^3 of shale gas in northern England alone! In 2015, £300billion of oil and gas was found near Gatwick Airport. There is a national interest in investing into this energy source.
What are the issues surrounding fracking?
Potential mining sites are often found beneath large cities, valuable farmland and national parks. Since the national parks are mainly owned by the Crown, compensation for those using the land is very unlikely. In 2011, initial drilling in Blackpool led to minor earthquakes, causing the fracking to be suspended. The government, however, lifted this ban in 2012. In 2015, Lancashire council was expected to approve a plan to start drilling in the NW, but was faced with opposition from the public (green groups, local land users). In the end, the plan was rejected because of the noise impact and ‘adverse urbanisation effect on the landscape’.
What is international deregulation?
The deregulation of capital markets since in 1970s has made it much easier for companies to locate to the UK and for foreign companies to invest in the UK’s infrastructure. The UK’s common law legal system also encourages companies to trade in London. The London Stock Exchange is one of the largest in the world. The City of London has lawyers, accountants, and consultants of every description, creating an overall industry with £95billion.
What was the impact of making finance regulation tighter?
This made it harder for banks to make risky investments. When some banks (such as HSBC) threatened to leave London for Asia, the gov decided in 2015 to halve a proposed banking levy. Some of this wealth has helped to regenerate the former Docklands area in London to Canary Warf.
What affect has the UK migration policy had?
Opening UK borders to migration was a major decision for belong regeneration of local areas. In 2004, 8 Eastern European countries joined the EU, and 2 more in 2007. Many from these countries then migrated to the UK. 1.2million poles settled in the UK, giving birth to 21,000 children in 2012 alone.
How has Corby been affected by migration?
Corby was previously a town with an aging population and an increasingly poorly skilled workforce with few opportunities. East European entrepreneurs have since 2006 set up many businesses there, including restaurants, bakeries, construction firms, building design firms and marketing agencies. Property crime and antisocial behaviour in Corby have halved since 2006, clear indicators of the success of the much-needed regeneration of the town.
How have local governments policies affected regeneration?
Local governments are keen to encourage innovation and investment, both from the UK and overseas companies. Local councils will often partner with major stakeholders in an area, using a range of incentives to attract and keep companies which will help improve the reputation of a town.
How do cities and towns work together with universities?
The have been doing this since 1970, for example in Cambridge. This was to focus on the commercialisation of research, by ensuring that the right infrastructure is in place, not only for established technology companies but also for innovative start-ups seeking to pioneer new research. The right support is essential to these companies, wether that’s in telecommunications and power supply, expert lawyers to protect their ideas or banking services. Investment has focused on innovation, high-tech and medical companies, all of which have thrived even through the 2008 recession.
What are the benefits of science parks?
In Cambridge, they have made a concerted effort to utilise its scientific expertise to increase wealth across the region. Cambridge Science Park and the St John’s innovation centre opened with both start-up companies and large TNC’s such as AstraZeneca, Toshiba and Microsoft. They have done this in order to benefit from the technological expertise at the university.
Why has Cambridge’s science park excelled more than Oxfords?
Although both cities are wealthy, Oxford has only just started to build large numbers of new houses, and the price of housing (11x averages local earnings) is discouraging knowledgable people and companies moving to the area. In response, Oxford uni now plays a bigger role in local decision making. Old building are being replaced with new ones, and both science parks in Oxford are now linking to the uni. Begbroke (Oxford) science park was granted funding in order to host the Innovation Accelerator to encourage high-tech, aerospace and medical engineering as well as superfast computers and robotics. Oxford science park also hosts many start up bioscience and technology companies. The return on this investment has justified change in the town centre, with a carpark being replaced by a £500million shopping centre, and a second railway to London. Also now commercial flights between Oxford and Edinburgh.
How does local decision making effect regeneration?
Major regeneration projects need the cooperation of many local interest groups. It is normally the job of the local council, such as the county council or a district council, to take the lead in ensuring that projects are successful. They must reconcile the many different interests and stakeholder groups. For example, local businesses, sometimes represented by local chambers of commerce, want economic growth even if this means demolishing old buildings, while local people often have a nostalgic attachment to historic buildings, and campaign to save them.
What do some people believe about old historical buildings for regeneration projects?
Many believe that they should be kept, and used as a foundation for projects because they ‘reinforce a sense of community, make an important contribution to the local economy and act as a catalyst for improvements to the wider area.’ New uses should still be allowed within the buildings, when their old use is no longer relevant.
How has Aylesbury been regenerated?
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire has has ‘The Buckinghamshire Chamber or Commerce’ formed in 2010. This was to facilitate business growth in the area. Led by the Aylesbury Vale District Council, the waterside redevelopment project began in 2003 with a canal basin regeneration scheme to replace the Bucks Herald Printing Press, former police stations and old country offices. The development was delayed by the Environment agency because of contamination of land, some of which had been the site of a coal-fired power station and an oil depot in the past.
What was the first phase of the Aylesbury regeneration scheme?
It saw the demolition of a 1960s car park and construction of the £47 million Waterside Theatre and more recently the Aylesbury campus of Bucks New University. A Waitrose supermarket and restaurants such as Nando’s and GBK have moved to the development. Since the changes, there has been a rise of 2.2% in footfall since 2013. Plans for more restaurants and shops to open have, however, met resistance from established restaurant owners in the town centre.
What was the second phase of Aylesbury’s regeneration scheme?
The most recent phase of the scheme was centred around the controversial demolishing of some of the town centres old historic buildings, including the Old County Hall, police station and Judges lodgings. Following a campaign by local organisations (and due to the listing of some of the buildings), the government agreed to preserve some of the buildings and convert them into hotels and restaurants. One restaurant with a theme of the Great Train Robbery, which happened near the area.
The plan for regeneration is now focused more on the surrounding landscape, with other buildings now demolished to facilitate better pedestrian and transport access.
What are contemporary regeneration strategies?
The eventual hope of regeneration strategies is that they will attract business investment and workers from many different contexts to create vibrant new places in urban and rural areas.
