Regeneration Regeneration Regeneration

Regeneration is an important process that is taking place in many cities - the largest regeneration programme currently underway is the Olympic Park.

Owen Hatherley wrote the rather good 'Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain', where he visited a number of cities. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Sheffield.

This Guardian article by Owen describes some of the issues facing projects in places such as Bradford. It describes the need for imagination.

Sheffield is mentioned here too:

Photos of what will eventually be there can still be seen on buildings left derelict in Sheffield, where Sevenstone, a Liverpool One-style "outdoor" mall, is still being desperately awaited by councillors, despite the lack of desire for it from either residents or retailers. Meanwhile, Castle Market, the city's down-at-heel but unique multilevel indoor palace of small retailers, exactly the sort of place that people always say they want in their city, non-corporate, small-scale, individual, is to be replaced with a flat box next to the someday-to-arrive Sevenstone, with rents that will price out many of the old market traders.

Also check out this BBC news article about living on the Ghost Streets of some towns where urban regeneration has stalled.

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