12-20 Markers Regeneration Flashcards
(4 cards)
Evaluate the reasons why some regions are more successful than others (20)
Themes and intro
Economic regenration, gentrification, and effective gov policy and planning.
Success can be measured using objective social indicators such as employment levels howver, it is doesn’t necessarily make a place ‘successful’ as inequality might still exist in the area, thus making ‘success’ hard to measure.
This essay will consider 3 themes that could contribute to the ‘success’ of a place
Why some regions are more successful than others
Theme 1 : econmic regenration
It is more convincing to argue that economic regeneration can contribute to the ‘success’ of a place as it can transform the entire econmic and social makeup of a region.
E.g. before regenration, Bristol’s inner city had 20% unemployment, where people are living in econmic destruction w more than 50% children receiving free sky meals. However, after Bristol city council gained £41m from national lottery and a further £21m from English partnerships to develop the dockland area, Bristol became a hotspot for investment w big headquarters such as Lloyd’s TBS situating in that area.
TIS= as it acted as a great spur for investment, creating more jobs which makes the place more attractive to econmic migrants,presenting Bristol as a financial hub, making it successful on a global stage.
Overall econmic regenration makes a place more successful as it rebranded the place into a viable, attractive hotspot for sustained long-term investment.
Why some areas are more successful than others
Theme 3- gentrification
This has minimal impact on the ‘success’ of a region despite it creating sig econmic and social changes which can make a place appear ‘successful’.
Gentrification= process where wealthier individuals move into a previously deprived area as a result of successful econmic regeneration, driving up property costs.
E.g. Bristol is 1 of Europe’s largest redevelopment projects, which attracts many affluent highly skilled workers from the quinary sector, specifically in areas of temple quarter. This influx can lead to gentrification as more wealthy middle class residents move into the area.
TIS as gentrified areas gain better access to pubic services e.g. transport, schools and healthcare which can boost QoL in the area, labelling the place to be a ‘success’, creating winners.
However, it can create losers for low income, marginalised communities as it forces them to relocate homes as they can’t afford rising house prices from gentrification, increasing the inequality gap, contributing to the growth of more sink estates, characterised by britlaistic architecture and gated communities which can be viewed as ‘unsuccessful’.
Overall, this has limited importance as the city’s econmic regenration created 22,000 jobs alone in temple quarter labelling Bristol to be an investment hub, spurring on more econmic actors and developers to contribute to the regions growing ‘success’, can refute this argument.
Why some areas are more successful than others
Theme 2- effective gov planning
Can contribute to the success of a place
E.g. due to successful gov planning of the M4 corridor, many surrounding places within the commuting distance of the M4 are winners
For example, places like Berkshire has low levels of deprivation and high rates of employment which attracts many wealthy residents into the area, contributing to its perception of ‘millionaire villages’. Moreover, towns such as Bracknell host major ICT companies like Microsoft.
TIS as these places have low deprivation levels, high employment rates, high in migration and high property prices- all characteristics of a successful region.
However, gov planning was ineffective when addressing the N/S divide as the HS2 project, which was meant to lessen the inequality gap between the north and south, was cancelled, as it would be benefited London more than the North due to commuter growth. This shows that state planning alone can’t fix disparities and turn unsuccessfulregions into successful regions , instead it should be coupled w econmic regeneration in order to form a ‘successful’ region.
