Urban regeneration is defined as improving an area that has been experiencing a period of decline due to a variety of reasons, such as lack of employment, lack of investment in the CBD, suburbanisation etc. Ways that this can be resolved include property led regeneration, prestige project developments and partnership development schemes. These have all been carried out in the UK recently due to urban decline in some areas, and some have been more successful in others, in terms of its effectiveness on the location, effectiveness on problems that existed beforehand and the effect on the local community. Most importantly, the urban regeneration scheme must’ve achieved it’s initial aims to be classified as a success. This essay will discuss examples of urban regeneration schemes and the impacts it has had on past areas of urban decline.
Property led regeneration is where the Urban Development Corporation uses public money from tax payers to spend on regenerating an area using buildings. An example of this is the regeneration of London Docklands (Canary Wharf). In the 1970’s, the trade industry in The Docklands went into decline, causing a desperate need for urban regeneration as 20,000 jobs were lost, 60% of land was derelict and the population declined by 20%. So in 1981, the London Docklands development corporation was created to regenerate the area. Successes of the area included reclaiming 600 hectares of derelict land and spending £300 million on improving utilities. Old warehouses and industry buildings were converted into flats, shops and health clubs, and the West India Quay offers luxury offices, apartments and retail shops. This all contributes to the economy of the area, boosting the multiplier effect as more people live there and are employed there, and it could be argued that they achieved their aim to ‘bring land and buildings back to