Changing Places Case Studies

• Stratford - Background

  • Population 30,000.
  • 2.5 mil visitors per year
  • 75% work in the tertiary sector. NFU Mutual is biggest employer.
  • 65% drive to work (commuter settlement).
  • Close to Birmingham and the Cotswolds.
• Stratford - Economic Change

  • Flowers Brewery 1833-1962. One of towns biggest employers.
  • Bird Family - property development. Maybird centre. 
  • SUA canal - 18th + 19th centuries. Trade
  • GWR - 1859 - 1968 (closed due to modern freight)
  • £100 mil RSC redevelopment (2010)
  • £30 mil Bell Court redevelopment
  • Bham Road change: Flowers Brewery, GWR, gas works replaced by retail parks - Maybird, Maybrook retail park, industrial estate.
• Stratford - Social Inequality

  Mount Pleasant East vs Clopton Welcome Hills. 

  • Households owned outright - MPE 22%, CWH 55%
  • No qualifications - MPE 30%, CWH 10%. 

  Warwickshire 121/151 (151 is least deprived).

  SUA 266/317 (317 least deprived) - has 1 LSOA in the 30% most deprived nationally.

  MPE is in the top 40% most deprived LSOAs.

  20% are successful professionals in suburban/semi rural homes. 
• Dharavi

  • 590 acres. Population 1 million.
  • Over 200,000 people per km squared. Common to have more than 20 people per house. 
  • 1 toilet for every 500 people
  • 2004 - cost of redevelopment estimated to be $720 million. 
  • Latest plan proposes construction of 2.8 million sqm of infrastructure. 33 sqm accommodation per tenant. Only families who lived in area before 2000 slated for resettlement.
  • One of the most literate slums in India - literacy rate 69% (India's literacy rate 73%).
• Dharavi - Economic Change:

  Migrants brought their trades (Gujarat potters, Maharashtran tanners etc.)

  Active informal economy - over 5000 businesses and 15,000 single room factories. Total annual turnover over $1 billion.

  Informal economy makes up 90% of employment in India.
• Dharavi - Social Inequality

  (Within Mumbai) 

  Ward G/N (Dharavi) HDI 0.49. Best ward 0.96, worst 0.05. Mumbai average HDI 0.56.

  IMR 35%. Best ward 9%, worst 66%.

  (within Dharavi)

  • Most slum dwellers have less than $1-2 a day.
  • Income of residents ranges $500-2000 per year. 
  • 70% use public toilets, 2% have individual sanitary facilities. 
  • 14% have an individual water supply.
  • Poorest/worse slum conditions on the edge - newest migrants. Centre is more established.
• Cardiff Bay - Redevelopment:

  ‘Property led redevelopment’. Bringing land and buildings into effective use. 

  Carried out by government led Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) - external organisations.

  Regenerate 1,100ha of derelict docklands. £ 2.4 bn incl. £ 40m annual budget from gov.

  • £ 220 million barrage - created 200ha freshwater lake + Europe’s largest city centre waterfront (13km+)
  • 4800 new housing units
  • Lloyd George Avenue - boulevard connecting city centre to waterfront
  • Mermaid Quay - bars and restaurants
• Cardiff Bay - Successes: Attractive externally

  • Supported 13000 construction jobs 
  • Tourist destination - attracts over 2 mil per year
  • Attracted new investment eg. new BBC studios
  • Land reclamation 327ha
  • 17000 new jobs
• Cardiff Bay - Failures: Unattractive internally

  • Most houses/flats in area too expensive for locals
  • Many businesses that have opened have just moved from other parts of the city
  • No effort to maintain original culture (changes top down - external, locals not included/involved)
  • Jobs created in wrong sector
  • Social projects to help residents of Tiger Bay only 2% of total spending 
  • Residents feel ‘socially excluded’ from area (cost, type of facilities)
  • More homogenised - chain stores dominate
• Longbridge

  Birmingham lost more jobs than Scotland + Wales combined. 

  Rover factory. 2005 closed down - loss of 6000 jobs. Urban decline.

  Regeneration was ‘partnership scheme’. 
• Longbridge - Regeneration:

  • 1450 new homes (2022)
  • Retirement village - 260 apartments
  • Large retail area - largest M&S in West Midlands 
  • 40 acre Technology Park - office space, Business Park
  • £66 million South and City College Birmingham
  • ‘The Factory’ youth centre
  • 3 acre Austin Park - 250m of river uncovered
  • Herbert’s Yard - community street food venue
• Longbridge - Successes:

  • Unemployment in area below/around pre-Rover crash levels
  • 10,500 full-time jobs created - over double Rover employment 
  • 64,000 shoppers visit each week
  • Continued demand for new businesses
  • More efforts made to include + appeal to community - more successful than Cardiff Bay. Kept the heritage. 
• Longbridge - Failures:

  • Jobs created mainly in service sector/high-tech industries - different to Rover workers
  • Retail attracting people away from other local shopping areas
  • House prices increased - locals can’t afford to live there