Geographical investigations
Rebranding places
Time to Rebrand
Rebranding
- Regeneration, rebranding and reimaging of places has become increasingly prominent on government agendas in recent years, especially in areas that have experienced significant economic or industrial decline.
- Process of renewing places is expensive and often involves physical redevelopment of outdated facilities.
- Rebranding and reimaging mean more than just improving the cosmetics of a place, also concerned with reputation, spirit and identity.
- In rebranding there are 4 focuses:
- Environmental – to improve derelict infrastructure and the quality of the environment.
- Social – to overcome spiral of decline and deprivation and cycle of poverty.
- Economic – to improve job opportunities and bring income to the area
- Political – to raise money for projects through the ‘bid industry’ which is necessary for successful rebranding.
The need to rebrand
- Rebranding may be required in a variety of locations: urban areas, former industrial regions or parts of the countryside and coastal areas.
CITIES IN DECLINE
- Increasing costs of upkeep, developing and remodelling of Central business districts (CBDs).
- Many CBDs are becoming increasingly congested, inaccessible and expensive.
- Loss of retailing function from CBDs to out-of-town shopping centres.
- Loss of offices and commercial functions from city centres to suburban and peripheral locations, such as prestige science parks
- City centres perceived as dirty and unsafe.
- Image for many years was determined by events at the British
- The impression was that of a city with a disruptive and powerful workforce with weak management.
- Reconstruction of image in 1990s caught between 2 factors:
-Historical importance of the car industry to the identity of the region.
-A series of negative associations linked to the industry.
- Also identified with failures of ‘modernist’ project Modernism was an architectural style in 1950s and 1960s relying on simplistic and often angulay form using iron, steel, concrete and glass.
- Current wave of remaking is producing impressive new buildings and using culture and identity to drive regeneration.
- 1976 – National exhibition centre (NEC) opened on greenbelt land near to
- Late 1980s – International convention centre (ICC) and symphony hall opened. Development of areas around broad street. Extention and refurbishment of
- 1193 – Initial development by Argent group of Brindley place – 7ha development costing £350m. Now houses sea life centre, Ikon and Royal bank of
- 2003 – Bullring development opened at £530m, creating 8000 new jobs.
- 2005 – Completion of £40m redevelopment of Matthew Boulton college, teaching over 500 courses to 7000 students.
- 2013 – First half of redeveloping
COALFIELD COMMUNITIES
- UK coal industry been in decline for years, during last 2 decades most coal mines in
- Between 1984 and 1997, 170,000 coal mining jobs were lost in
- This raised problems for communities built around them:
-Areas were characterised by high levels of dereliction and ground contamination, mostly the legacy of mining.
-Not a strong tradition of self-employment.
-Lack of education and training in populations of coalfield areas.
-Proportion of population in 1991 classified as having long-term limiting illness was 15% in coalfield regions, compared to 12% in England
COUNTRYSIDE IN CRISIS?
- Recently, the view that rural life is difficult and under threat has become prominent.
- Partly due to media coverage of farming crises, such as the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak.
- A number of rural pressure groups and interest groups such as the Countryside
- Created a somewhat ant-idyllic view:
-Backward
-Unsophisticated
-Unfriendly (especially to incomers)
-Environmentally damaged
-Boring
Sleepy & slow
- These viewpoints have been reinforced by media representation. E.g. Tv shows such as Father Ted Portrays rural people as simple and backward.
PROBLEMS AT THE SEASIDE
- Most coastal settlements are dependent on seasonal, resort economy which is shrinking.
- Many coastal areas have also experienced decline in their fishing industries and this is coupled with high concentrations of migrant labour.
- Coastal regions can only be accessed from one direction and tend to be remote and difficult to get to.
- The Victorian working-class town of
- Cheap package holidays drew many families away in the 1980s.
- Large Northern cities such as
- Fewer tourists mean fewer jobs.
- Between 1994 and 2005, the number of registered businesses in
- Unemployment is now at 7% and wages have fallen.
- In 2002, the Average Blackpudlian was paid 17% less than the average Briton, this gap increased to 26% by 2006.
Space
Place
CBD
Rebranding
Reimaging
Regenerating
No comments:
Post a Comment