Urban policy and regeneration in Britain since 1979 Flashcards
Urban development corporations example
-The government established the London Docklands Development Corporation to attract new businesses and improve the local environment of the area following the closure of the docks in 1981, due to the size of the modern container ships no longer fitting down the river.
-This led to high unemployment, dereliction and contamination of the land.
-Between 1981 and 1998, the LDDC built 24,000 new homes, created 150,000 new jobs nationally, and built new schools, parks and a watersports centre.
Urban development corporations
what and when?
-Due to the catastrophic decline of many city centres in the UK, in 1979, the government created Urban Development Corporations (UDCs), which used private sector funding to restore derelict areas.
Urban development corporation strengths
-Strengths of this scheme include the rapid and effective changes that can be made by being a private agency, attracting £12bn in private sector investment.
Urban development corporation weaknesses
-The weakness was that it ignored the needs of social issues of locals and much of the original community has been pushed away due to soaring house prices and gentrification.
City Challange-
what and when?
-In 1991-1997 local authorities created a plan to regenerate deprived urban areas and these competed against each other for government funding. They worked with the local community and private companies to improve the physical, economic and social environment of the area.
City challenge- example
-The Manchester authority won the challenge with their proposal for the regeneration of Hulme Crescent.
-They planned for 3,000 new homes, shopping areas, roads and community centres and by 1997 improved 40,000 houses, created 53,000 new jobs, reclaimmed 2,000ha of derelict land, and brought in 3,000 new businesses and reduced crime.
City challange- advantages
-Strengths of this strategy were that it improved the quality of proposals as soloutions were suggested as well as identifying problems.
City challange- disadvantages
-However, weaknesses include that the bid was awarded based on the most attractive ideas rather than based on need, and it made neighbouring authorities work against each other rather than together.
New deal for communities- what and when?
-From 1997-2008 10 year initiatives were established to help the 39 most deprived regions of the country with a heavy emphasis on community with input from local authorities, residents, businesses and community groups, each deal received £50 million to improve their region.
New deal for communities- example
-Devonport in Plymouth was one of the receivers of this deal, they reinvested their money into bursaries, retraining opportunities, parks, war memorials and mixing affordable housing into new developments to decrease inequalities.
New deal for communities-advantages and disadvantages
The strengths of this scheme are that it was bottom up, so led by the community and that it was immensely successful, with 85% of residents thinking that life is good, 65% saying they felt safe walking around.
-However, Devonport is still in the most deprived 39 regions of the country and has been getting worse since 2010.
