Geography Unit 2 case studies: Rebranding

London Docklands
1. In 1981 the area was useless, very few jobs, closed docks, poor transport and housing and a lack of services. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up to improve the economic, social and environmental conditions of the area.
2. Environmental changes
  1. 728 hectares of derelict land was reclaimed and 160 000 trees were replanted.
  2. 130 hectares were made open space areas, as in fields and parks.
  3. 17 conservation areas created.
3. Economic changes
  1. Transport was improved to make London more accessible. The Docklands Light Railway is a track of 29km and carries 320 000 passengers a week. This railway has connected to many other forms of tube lines such as the Jubilee and Waterloo lines.
  2. The city airport was used by half a million passengers in 1995. A link has also been made with the M11 as well as 135 km of new roads leading to Docklands.
  3. Employment and the number of businesses are said to have both doubled from 1981 to 1996. This means more money is being brought into the area, making London wealthier. Businesses are now competing for offices in the area.
4. Social changes
  1. Since the 1980’s, 50,000 new homes have been built and 8,000 have been improved.
    1. This provides a better quality life style for residents.
  2. Shopping centres have been redeveloped, providing people with more variety and theoretically better quality in goods.
  3. Nearly £100 million has been spent on health, education, training and community programmes to look after the population.
5. Local residents can’t afford any of the modern flats and due to the shortage of low-cost housing; they aren’t given much of a choice.
6. Former Dockers are also unable to apply for most of the new jobs available, as they require certain skills or qualifications which they have never had a chance to have.
7. The old residents feel as if the community has been split up by the new residents.
8. Players
  1. The arts council offered various funding opportunities to art related projects.
  2. The English partnership also aimed to ‘provide high quality sustainable economic growth in England’.
  3. The LDDC
    1. Attracted private investment to the area through improvement in the environment and the infrastructure.
    2. In the 1980’s, they attracted £10 investment for every £1 they spent, this improved the living conditions and prospects for people in the local economy. Also, £300 million was spent on improving utilities.
  4. Individuals - provide needs to be catered for
    1. There was a local demand for employment and by 2005, 100,00 people were employed by Canary Wharf. There was also and increase in tourism which helped the local economy thrive.
9. Canary Wharf was the flagship of the regeneration.
10. Urban
Birmingham
1. The impression was that of a city with a disruptive and powerful workforce with weak management.
2. What's changing
  1. 1976 – National exhibition centre (NEC) opened on greenbelt land near to Birmingham city airport.
  2. Late 1980s – International convention centre (ICC) and symphony hall opened. Development of areas around broad street. Extention and refurbishment of Birmingham repertory theatre.
  3. 1993 – Initial development by Argent group of Brindley place – development costing £350m. Now houses sea life centre, Ikon and Royal bank of Scotland.
  4. 2003 – Bullring development opened at £530m, creating 8000 new jobs.
    1. Birmingham Alliance - a partnership between Hammerson plc, Henderson Global Investors Ltd, and Land Securities Group plc - who formed in 1999.
  5. 2005 – Completion of £40m redevelopment of Matthew Boulton college, teaching over 500 courses to 7000 students.
  6. 2013 – First half of redeveloping New Street Station opened 28th April.
  7. The rotunda, first completed in 1965, was refurbished between 2004-2008 by Urban Splash and Glenn Howells and is now used for housing
    1. However, by June 2008, investors were already facing a significant financial loss. Rents have been significantly below what was expected, and the value of the flats dropped an average of £25,000 from October 2005 to June 2008
3. Also identified with failures of ‘modernist’ project Modernism was an architectural style in 1950s and 1960s relying on simplistic and often angulay form using iron, steel, concrete and glass.
  1. Not good aesthetically
4. Current wave of remaking is producing impressive new buildings and using culture and identity to drive regeneration.
5. Players
  1. Urban Splash
  2. Birmingham Alliance
  3. Birmingham City Council
  4. Glenn Howells
6. The Big City Plan (BCP)
  1. The Big City Plan, launched in September 2010, is a 20 year vision for Birmingham’s City Centre supporting transformational change to create a world class city centre delivering sustainable growth, improved connectivity, authentic character, environmental quality, new residential communities and a diversified economic base. Covering an area of 800 hectares at the centre of the UK’s 2nd city, the BCP provides the vision, strategy and principles to guide the future development and regeneration of the City Centre.
    1. Network of streets and spaces to enhance the environmental quality and walkability of the city centre.
    2. Strategy for movement setting out how connections will be enhanced including public transport.
    3. Principles for the integration of both sustainable development and addressing the impact of climate change as part of the future transformation of the city centre.
    4. Focus for the important role of heritage in future regeneration and development.
7. Economics
  1. £1bn Public Sector Investment committed across the City in transport and digital infrastructure.
  2. £100m already committed by Public Sector partners to unlock the potential for economic growth in the Zones outside the city centre.
  3. Excellent connectivity within the UK and internationally.
  4. A series of Economic Zones marrying the growth sectors with the city’s spatial opportunities
    1. Advanced Manufacturing Hub
    2. City Centre Enterprise Zone
    3. Tyseley Environmental Enterprise District
    4. Longbridge ITEC Park
    5. The Food Hub
    6. Life Science Campus
    7. The Zones will attract £1.5bn investment, generating in the region of 1.8 million sqm of new floor space and 50,000 new jobs,
8. Urban
Glastonbury Music Festival in Somerset
1. Rural
2. Advantages
  1. Long term
    1. Glastonbury Festival donates the majority of their profits to charitable causes such as PTA groups, playschools and local charities In 2002, £700,000 was donated by the festival
    2. In 2002, 300 local businesses received £3 million by direct spending from the Glastonbury Festival Company. Economy relies on festival, especially due to the demise of the agriculture industry.
  2. Short term
    1. All businesses associated with leisure and tourism in the area benefited from the area , from accommodation to shops and pubs
    2. Excess of £250,000 is spent in the local community on accommodation alone as many local residents open their homes up for paying guests over the festival period
    3. The festival directly employed 1,600 people in 2006 (Local council data from Mendip, the local government district of Somerset, district council)
3. Disadvantages
  1. Long term
    1. Social conflict as local residents are opposed to the festival due to problems caused
  2. Short term
    1. Huge diversion of resources such as police, hospitals and fire services
      1. In 2005, the Somerset Fire Brigade were called to 34 incidents
        Local crime rates increase by 30% over the long weekend of the event
    2. Road congestion around the site, especially on Thursday before the event and Monday after the event
    3. Many negative environmental impacts involved
      1. Noise pollution is at its highest during the festival
      2. Festival creates a million gallons of raw sewage which helps to pollute the River Whitelake
      3. 60,000 cars and coaches come into the district which with numerous fires and smoke machines help to create a haze like industrial smog over Pilton
      4. Creates 1,000 tons of rubbish, very little of which is recycled
4. Festival owners are trying to move towards sustainability with
  1. Off site car parks with buses running to the festival site and back
  2. Recycling facilities at key areas around the site
  3. Many of the stalls demonstrate sustainable initiatives (eg. building hurdles from hazel branches)
The Eden Project
1. rural
2. An on going environmental project involving artificial biomes
  1. Very popular tourist attraction
  2. Also hosts gigs, talent shows and exhibitions
  3. Used in the popular Kernowland series of books as the main setting
3. Impacts
  1. Created around 600 jobs in an area with high unemployment
  2. Attracts around 1.2 million people per year
    1. This leads to huge issues in relation to the capacity to cope with the noise pollution, congestion and litter among others
  3. Not only attracts foreign people to the area but locals from Cornwall and St Austell also come to see the Eden project
  4. Admission prices are considered to be too high by some people
  5. Cornwall is an area with no motorways and very few dual carriage ways meaning the amount of visitors can result in massive amounts of traffic which in turn results in a lot of greenhouse gas emissions
  6. Economic impact on Cornwall worth £1 billion to date.
4. Funding
  1. The Millennium Commission weighed in with £37.5 million of Lottery funding
  2. £20 million of commercial loans.
  3. The balance was made up of £8 million of other loans
  4. Due to Cornwall producing less than 75% of the average European GDP, £350 million of Objective One funding was received between 2000 and 2006.
5. Supporters of the Eden Project
  1. Arts Council / Asda / BIFFA Award / Bunzl Plc / Cornwall Council / Cultural Olympiad (Sessions Comedy) / Department for International Development / Department of Communites and Local Government / Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Eden Friends and Patrons / EDF Energy / English Heritage / European Regional Development Fund / European Social Fund / Jqagclif / Kingsmill / Kingfisher Plc / Local Action for Rural Communities Programme (China Clay LAG) - Supported by the Rural Development Programme for England / Locality / LOCOG / MasterCard / Oxfam / Radio4 Appeal / Rio Tinto / Southbank / The Big Lottery Fund (Big Local) / The Big Lottery Fund (Family Learning) / The Big Lottery Fund (The Big Lunch and Big Lunch Extras) / The Eranda Foundation / The Ernest Kleinwort Foundation / The Fidelity UK Foundation / The Finnis Scott Foundation / The Garfield Weston Foundation / The Hobson Charitable Trust / The Hobson Charity / The Kirby Laing Foundation /
    1. The Lennox and Wyfold Foundation / The Swire Charitable Trust / The Wolfson Foundation / Tipping Point / Trusthouse Charitable Foundation.

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Geography Unit 2 case studies: Rebranding

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