Case Studies

The 1980 act requires an urban development corporation to secure the regeneration of its area, by bringing land & buildings into effective use, encouraging the development of existing & new industry & commerce, creating an attractive environment & ensuring that housing & social facilities are available to encourage people to live & work in the area.

The LDDC was at work for 17 years. In the final annual report in 1998 it headlined its achievements as follows:

• £1.86 billion in public sector investment 
• £7.7 billion in private sector investment 
• 431 ha of land sold for development 
• 144km of new & improved roads
• construction of the Docklands Light Railway
• 2.3km^2 of commercial/industrial floor space built
• 762 ha of derelict land reclaimed
• 24,046 new homes built
• 2700 businesses trading
• contributions to 5 new health centres & the redevelopment of 6 more 
• funding towards 11 new primary schools, 2 secondary, 3 post-16 colleges & 9 vocational training centres
• 94 awards for architecture, conservation & landscaping
• 85,000 people now at work in London Docklands

City challenge was a big intiative of the 1990s. It had a holostic approach to regeneration, where local authorities, private companies & local community worked together from the start. The focus of the projects varied. The Hulme City Challenge partnership sought to improve the housing that had been built in the 1960s to replace the old terraces that had once stood there. Integral to this was an attempt to improve the environment, community facilities & shopping provisio. 

• Crescents were built in the 1960s & demolished in the 1990s
• Through city challenge, Hulme received £37.5 million
• Some old buildings were retained
• Homes were designed to conserve water, & be energy efficient & pleasant
• Return to a traditional layout - Stretford Road was rebuilt after demolition of crescents
• Local schools & a new park have been built
• Views of the local people were taken into account

New homes

• 66 houses, 200 ground-floor apartments
• 500 two-and three-storey apartments
• 600 1- and 2-bed apartmen

Community Facilites

• primary school & play areas
• a health centre with 8 GPs
• angling club & village hall
• football pitch

Sustainability agenda

• boreholes provide up to 25 litres per second of naturally filtered water
• central heat & power to generate 600 kW electrical energy & 1000 kW thermal energy
• recycling collection points that allow occupants to recycle 50% of domestic waster

Drivers are charged for driving in the congestion charge zone in central London. The aim is to discourage drivers from using the zone during peak hours and use public transport instead, thereby reducing congestion, the time spent in queues, the pollution generated and the cost to the economy. The money generated is used to improve public transport, eg older London buses which generate more pollution have been removed from service.

Park and ride schemes involve car drivers to park in car parks outside a settlement and catch regualr buses into the centre to prevent a large number of cars from entering the city centre. Park and ride encourages the decrease of cars being driven into the city centre, by providing buses which will take people to their destination. 

People have a pre pay card they swipe to get on the bus or tube in and around London. It reduces the amount of time the bus driver needs to stop at each bus stop and it encourages more people to use the tube, buses and trains rather than cars as it is quick and efficient and they can get to their destination. It links many stations, and it gives them use of the public transport without having to pay each time they use transport. 

There is an attempt to integrate different ethnic groups & reduce segregation. In Leeds, this has involved the following measures:

• increasing children's achievement by improving educational provision & opportunities in deprived areas; and seeking to improve literacy in areas where English can be a 2nd language
• increasing employment through initiatives to ensure basic skills & access to information & training
• increasing community involvement by ensuring the needs of minority groups are understood & met 
• providing facilities that encourage meetings of all sections of a community rather than seperate ethnic groups