Cities - Redevelopment of urban centres

Touchwood, Solihull

• Shopping centre on the south-east of the West Midlands conurbation – opposite side from Dudley
• On redeveloped land in the town centre, close to bus and railway stations, with it’s own multi-storey car park
• Prosperous area
• National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham airport
• Less derelict land than Dudley and has far more employment in growing sectors of the economy
• Touchwood was becoming old fashioned in the 90’s, and therefore refurbished itself
• 60,000m² space, opened in Sept 2001, modern theme
• Won UK Retail Destination of the year and Best major new shopping centre, also in the top 50 shopping centre destinations
• Created 2,000 retail jobs
• 80 stores, 20 restaurants, 9-screen cinema, 6,000 parking spaces
• Links to M42
• Architecture reflects Solihull very well and looks very pretty
• Largest arcade centre and most courtyard gardens and open spaces in the UK for a centre
• 2 internal courtyards
• 3 special arcade rooms
• 4 new gardens

Cities - Merry Hill

Merry Hill is an out of town shopping centre.

• Located west of Birmingham, 10/15km from central Birmingham, south of Dudley Hill
• Main section built from 1984-89 and is still ongoing extensions
• Touchwood shopping centre made from competition
• 50ha, 10 screen cinema, 2 floors, car park – 10,000 spaces
• 185 shops and kiosks, two supermarkets, 24 catering outlets – 2,200 seats e.g. M&S
• 3^rd largest centre after Bluewater and The biggest Metro Centre
• 21 million customer visits a year in a catchment area of 3 million
• Bus station en route to many places e.g. Birmingham and Wolverhampton
• Waterfront building opposite overviews canal with bars and restaurants 
• Previously railway underneath, failed due to safety and problems over ownership
• Enterprise zone in 1980’s made planning easy
• The area it was built on was over the steelwork industry factory and Merry Hill farm and wildlife area, even though it received many complaints and protests
• The building was so big that the canal was shut off for a while due to safety concerns

Reasons for success

• Close to highly populated cities (conurbation)
• Easy access from M5 motorway with buses and A roads
• One of the enterprise zones and people took advantage of planning conditions
• Need for jobs and business in the area
• Plenty of space, including both Brownfield and Greenfield
• No other shopping centres in the West

Impacts

Positives

• Many new easy jobs made
• Large area for eating shopping and for entertainment
• Unique and larger shops led to the multiplier effect
• Friendly and cheap
• Variety of shops in one place
• Dry, warm, clean
• Policed well
• Over 4,000 new jobs compared to 1,200 at steelworks
• Compacted area reduced sprawl
• All types of people can shop there, including elderly and disabled
• Free parking
• Trying to turn more eco-friendly now
• High streets and other businesses trying harder for work

Negatives

• Destroyed Merry Hill farm, the steelworks, wildlife and green space
• Temporary access restriction on canal
• Many people protested
• Many stores in surrounding area knocked out of business e.g. 70% of Dudley, whole M&S left and moved to Merry Hill
• Increased pollution and traffic, especially in that area
• Mainly accessible by car
• Loss of jobs at certain areas
• Cycle of decline

Cities - Decentralisation of retailing

Over recent years there has been a trend where shopping has moved from town centres to outer areas of cities and towns.

Causes

• Increased car ownership so people can drive to shops
• High parking prices in city centres
• Cheaper to build retail parks out of town
• Increased road building

Impacts on city centres

Positive

• Investment to improve the centre and attract customers like building pedestrian crossings
• Reduction of congestion and air pollution

Negative

• Hard to compete so shops might close causing job losses
• Services will also close with a reduction of people visiting the city centre 
• General decline of the area

Impacts on rural-urban fringe

Positive

• Create jobs for people in the suburbs
• Can be build on brownfield sites
• Houses close by may increase in value

Negative

• Require a lot of construction
• Congestion on the way to shopping centres especially at peak times

Cities - Gentrification

Gentrification is when wealthier people move into a run down area and regenerate it by improving their houses.

Positives

• Housing is improved
• Value of housing increases so people already in the area can make more money on their homes
• New businesses in the area so jobs are created
• Crime rates fall

Negatives

• High demand for housing so rents may be pushed up so original residents have to move out
• Loss of shops original residents need like laundrettes
• Tension between locals and new residents

Notting Hill

• Previously a working class neighbourhood
• Very close to central London
• Houses have secluded communal gardens so good for families
• Victorian architecture makes it very attractive
• The film Notting Hill continued to popularise the area
• New fashionable restaurants and bars opened like Trailer Happiness

Cities - Urban decline

Urban decline is when a decrease in economic activity in an urban area causes it to become run down.

Characteristics

• Poor quality housing
• Derelict buildings
• High unemployment
• High levels of pollution

Causes

• Deindustrialisation
• Outmigration of wealthier people 
• Recession
• Polarised economic growth
• Suburbanisation
• Crime
• Poor education
• Lack of ethnic integration

Cities - Mumbai

Mumbai is a city in the state of Maharashtra in India.

Urbanisation

• Mumbai has rapidly urbanised over the past 60 years
• This has been due to a high natural increase, and the booming economy attracting people due to the large number of jobs
• Mumbai is on an island making it harder to grow outwards

Dharavi

• Dharavi is the biggest slum in India with over one million inhabitants
• There are open sewers in the streets so disease spreads easily
• Homes are very small with many people living in them
• Water is also rationed
• 85% of people who live in the slum work in the slum
• There is a recycling zone where 80% of the plastic in Mumbai is recycled
• A $2 billion redevelopment project is threatening Dharavi with the slums bring replaced by high rises. The sense of community will be lost as well as many peoples jobs.

Cities - Re-urbanisation

Re-urbanisation is the movement of people back into an urban area.

Causes

• Redevelopments on brownfield sites with high quality housing
• Lots of universities are in cities so in brings in young people
• Young single people want to live close to work - can lead to gentrification
• Counter-urbanistaion may cause high house prices in rural areas pushing people out
• Rural areas may be too boring e.g. lacking nightlife 

Effects

Positive

• New shops and services open
• Jobs created from businesses opening
• Tourism can increase in the area
• Local schools can benefit from the increased number of students

Negative

• Original residents may not be able to afford homes as house prices increase
• Jobs may be unskilled and low pay
• Shops may cater to newer, wealthier residents rather than the original ones so they'll have to go elsewhere

Case study - London Docklands

• Enterprise zone (where taxes are lowered and planning restrictions are relaxed) was set up.
• By 1998, 2700 businesses were trading on the docks and attracted £7.7bn in investment.
• 24,000 new homes were built
• DLR connected central London with the docks
• Sailing and watersports centre built
• New schools and colleges built

Cities - Counter-urbanisation

Characteristics

• Increase in use of commuter railway stations
• Increased cost of housing in the area
• Construction of new housing or renovation of farm buildings

Causes

• Overcrowding in cities
• Lower crime rates
• Lower cost of living
• Less pollution
• Better sense of community
• Perceived better quality of life

Effects

Positives

• Light industry may develop e.g. B&Bs, bistros
• Primary schools may flourish if more families move in
• Supports local facilities
• Businesses attracted to area

Negatives

• Inner city areas left derelict
• Increased congestion
• House prices pushed up so when local people want to move in the area they may not be able to afford it
• Too much growth then the area may lose its charm

Management

• Congestion e.g. In Sevenoaks they are adapting road layouts and pedestrian crossings to ensure a smoother flow of traffic
• Parking e.g. adding park and ride systems, increasing parking spaces by the station, encouraging people to walk or cycle
• Affordable housing e.g. Sevenoaks, developing a large housing estate 3 miles away in Halstead so there are cheaper homes in the area

Case study - St Ives, Cambridgeshire

• Small town located 70km north if London
• Regular trains to London and Cambridge makes commuting very easy
• A large population of the town are employed outside of town
• Shops and services in the town has altered to fit the new demographic of young professionals. So there are more restaurants as well as more estate agents.
• Traffic congestion has increased, especially during rush hour on the A14
• Average price houses are rapidly increasing
• Increased pressure on local schools. However, to fix this there are plans to expand schools adding 240 new places
• New developments are having to be built on the River Great Ouse floodplain. Flood protection in this area is costing £8.8million

Cities - Suburbanisation

Suburbanisation- growth of the suburbs and engulfing of surrounding towns and villages

Causes

• Deindustrialisation 
• Decentralisation
• Social problems in the inner city e.g. crime, poor schooling
• Growth in public transport systems and private car usage

Effects

Positives

• Higher quality of public services
• More active community groups
• Higher occupancy rate in shopping parades
• Increase in demand for recreational facilities
• Increasing employment opportunities 

Negatives

• Vacant and derelict building left in the inner city
• Increased land value
• Increase air pollution
• Pressure on green belt
• Increased traffic in outer city

Case study - Surbiton, SW London

Issues

• Population growth from 141k to 160k from 1971 to 2011
• High house prices averaging £700,000
• High congestion with 70% of households owning a car and narrow roads with poor parking facilities
• High public transport costs 

Solutions

• Train stations reclassified from zone 6 to zone 5 to reduce ticket costs
• Bike storage units built to encourage cycling
• Better pedestrian access to encourage walking 

Cities - Urbanisation

Urbanisation- growth of towns and cities

Causes

• Trade
• Ports e.g. Shanghai
• Colonies e.g. Lima
• Industrialisation
• Settlement laws
• Natural population growth
• Globalisation
• Reassignment of capital cities 

Positive effects

• Reduced transport costs
• Exchange of ideas
• Sharing of resources 
• Higher standard of living
• Lower fertility rate
• Rise in tourism
• More labour

Negative effects

• Water contamination
• Air pollution
• Easy spread of diseases
• More crime
• Traffic congestion
• High cost of living
• Difficulty with administration
• Overcrowding

Economic development and change related to urbanisation

• Growth of cities in MEDCs increased rapidly in the 18th century with the industrial revolution and growth has now stabilised or is in decline.
• In the past 50 years NICs and LEDCs have experienced a growth in urban areas bringing many issues due to poor planning like with slums.
• In some developing cities, like Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, crime is so bad that is is hindering development.

Cities - General

Millionare city- over a million inhabitants
Mega city- over 10 million people, can be made up of two or more metropolitan areas that converge
World city- city that acts as a major centre for finance, trade, politics, culture and science

The emergence of these very large cities is due to:

• Globalisation
• Shift from manufacturing to service based cities

Global cities are centres for finance, headquarters for TNCs, have large levels of tourism. They are centres for knowledge and culture.

Cities have polarised labour forces with many jobs at the high and low end of skill and pay.

New York

• All major media industries in the USA are there
• Major tourist attractions
• Largest number of corporate HQs in US
• Home of New York stock exchange
• Grid system and subway system makes everywhere accessible 
• Green spaces e.g. Central Park
• Large levels of migration- diaspora e.g. Little Italy

World cities - Garden cities

Urban regeneration - garden cities

The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by greenbelts, containing proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture.

According to studies UK households living in greener urban environments are likely to have lower levels of mental distress and a higher level of wellbeing. It may also encourage light exercise like walking or cycling as there will be more green spaces to do so. It can also encourage more investment into the area and more businesses open creating more employment opportunities. Having more plants is also good for the environment, attracting a larger range of biodiversity.

Bicester, Oxfordshire

It has been announced that the small market town of Bicester, in north east Oxfordshire is to be the next new garden city. The statement comes as part of the £2.3 billion National Infrastructure Plan, a plan which aims to create three new garden cities each with at least fifteen thousand new homes. Bicester will receive £100 million in funding from central government in order to start building thirteen thousand new homes, £44 million of which will be spent on upgrading and building new public transport infrastructure. Part of Bicester is an eco-town where all the houses have solar panels and fruit trees. However, Local campaigners fear that so many new homes next door will damage the local wildlife site. Worse, 120 homes will still have to be built – either on the local wildlife site or over equally lovely adjacent meadows.

World cities - Community Land Trusts

Community Land Trusts

What?

Community Land Trusts are local organisations set up and run by ordinary people to develop and manage homes as well as other assets important to that community, like community enterprises, food growing or workspaces. The CLT’s main task is to make sure these homes are genuinely affordable, based on what people actually earn in their area, not just for now but for every future occupier.

Why?

As a nation we are building less than half the homes we need just to keep up with the new households forming each year. Private rents are soaring in many parts of the country and house prices are continuing to rise.  At the same time in other parts of the country there are whole neighbourhoods blighted by empty properties, disinvestment and failed regeneration initiatives.

This is hurting communities and, in response, a rising number of communities are deciding to set up Community Land Trusts.

Case study - Granby Four Streets, Liverpool

• 4 roads in south east Liverpool were built in the 1890s and fell into despair after riots in 1981. Hundreds moved away and many homes were left derelict.
• After 30 years remaining residents established a community land trust and have since refurbished 10 homes.
• Plants were planted and murals were painted the make the area look more attractive.
• It has helped create a strong community with a new monthly market.
• It has made more people set up business in an area with a new hairdressers opening within six month of the refurbishments. 
• They used simple, low cost materials to keep the prices of the houses as low as possible.
• Their work earned them the Turner prize.

World cities - Regeneration

Meatpacking district 

The Meatpacking district is an area of Lower Manhattan in New York.

History

In 1900 the area was home to 250 slaughterhouses and packing plants, and by the 1920s what had been a neighbourhood based on mixture of marketplaces became more tightly focused on meatpacking and related activities. The area's decline began around the 1960s as part of the general decline of the waterfront area. Containerisation of freight; the advent of supermarkets which changed the distribution pattern for meat, dairy and produce from a locally or regionally based system to a more national one; and the development of frozen foods and refrigerated trucks to deliver them were all factors in this, but meatpacking continued to be the major activity in the neighbourhood through the 1970s. Beginning in the late 1990s, the Meatpacking District went through a transformation. High-end boutiques catering to young professionals and hipsters opened.

What has happened?

• Since the area was rezoned to allow residential uses along the avenues, a number of luxury condominium buildings have been developed or are currently under construction. Towers had to be a maximum height of 250 feet.
• An elevated historic railway of 1.5 miles was made into a park.
• A bike path and a walkway was created beside the Hudson River Waterfront.
• Many of its factories have been transformed into loft spaces, light manufacturing, parking or automotive uses.
• There is an array of art galleries, restaurants, tech companies and boutiques.
• They have preserved features like the cobblestones.
• It is now one of the most fashionable places in New York having millions of visitors visiting this once run down area.
• It it continuously evolving with the development of the piers to be underway soon.

Port Maravilha

Port Maravilha is in the port area of Rio de Janeiro. It has been targeted for regeneration due to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

• The project foresees the development of the region based on principles of sustainability , with the restructuring of streets, squares and avenues, bringing improvement in the quality of life of current and future residents.
• The total cost of the operation is 8 billion reais.
• Urban operation covers an area of 5 million square meters.
• Bike racks will be installed that will encourage, along with the bike path, transport by bicycle.
• Light railways and a cable car are also being planned.
• 70 heritage buildings are to be renovated.
• However, hundreds of the poorer residents will have to be displaced.

World cities - Urban decline in Detroit

Detroit, USA

Reasons for decline:

• Poor housing stock- abandoned apartment buildings, small family homes.
• Few trees, banners and decorative lighting so it is unattractive.
• City centre could not compete with suburban shopping malls, even offices moved to the suburbs.
• Loss of streetcar network, no commuter rail, just buses.
• Corruption in local government.
• Race riots
• Loss of industry from Chrysler, Ford and General Motors
• Negative multiplier effect.

Problems:

• 70,000 abandoned buildings
• 31,000 empty houses
• Urban blight
• High crime rates
• Population decline - 61% loss in 60 years
• Unemployment rate of 23.1%
• Poverty rates of 36.4%