Stratford

• Stratford in East London was an area of dereliction. Urban regeneration was needed to deal with the problem of brownfield sites, industrial outmigration, lack of jobs and extreme social inequality.
• Stratford


  Located in the London Borough of Newham, in the Lower Lea Valley where the River Lea was once heavily polluted
• After the London docks closed in the 1960s, the area deindustrialised.
• Stratford was part of the area chosen as the site of the 2012 Olympics.
• Why the Area Needed Regeneration

  • High levels of deprivation, with Newham having some of the highest levels of poverty in London
  • Lots of brownfield sites
  • Industrialisation and employment were in rapid decline
  • Exam results were low
  • Significant lack of investment in the area
• Reasons Stratford was ideal for regeneration

  • Plenty of people looking for work
  • International rail terminal, potential for good transport links
  • GCSE performance in the area was generally low and schools were in need of investment
  • Many brownfield sites were ideal for building on
• The Main Features of Stratford's Regeneration

  1. Improve infrastructure - transport improvements including new high-speed trains with a wider range of connections

  2. Increase affordable housing - more than 2,800 good-quality homes built to accommodate lower-income families

  3. Tackle unemployment - International Quarter Technology Centre and Westfield complex helped to create thousands of jobs

  4. Boost the economy - the park brought over £9 billion of investment to the area and attracted over 8.5 million visitors over the Games period alone, resulting in £2.1 billion of additional spending by 2016

  5. Improve the environment - contaminated land and brownfield sites reclaimed to create new wildlife habitats and parks
• The London Legacy Development Corporation has plans to continue improvements until 2078.