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The redevelopment of London Docklands set a new standard for urban regeneration. City governments all over the world now aspire to the high-rise, high-gloss, high-cost 'office-residential-retail' formula (just add iconic casino/luxury hotel/state-of-the-art stadium) that passes for mixed use in the early 21st century. Waterfront cities are especially captured by this vision of the spectacular: the sparkling, once-in-a-lifetime break that will catapult that city onto the world stage. Most of these waterfronts are former docks, shipyards and city utilities, deindustrialised in the late 20th century, close to the old city centre, with very high potential value. They enter the current phase as public land or a mix of devalued private and public ownership, offering some of the best opportunities a state will ever have to plan and deliver what its people need. What is being made of these opportunities? Many cities are using public funds to support their private redevelopment into increasingly indistinguishable corporate and soulless landscapes. But not always. This book reveals the squandered opportunities in the rich cities of Australia, Canada and Germany, and their subsequent efforts to salvage this land in the public interest. It shows that urban development that is hostile to local people is not inevitable, and that there are ways of doing it better.
List of contents
1. Shimmer shimmer: Neoliberal urbanisation crystallised.- 2. In conversation: Australia, Canada and Germany.- 3. City snapshots: Quick local contexts for waterfront politics, economics and resistances.- 4. Office: Concrete dystopias and utopias.- 5. Residential: The luxury apartment and the co-op.- 6. Retail: The global franchise and street-life.- 7. Icons: The stadium, the opera house and the bathing ship.- 8. Limits and possibilities.- 9. The power of public engagement and resistance.- Epilogue: The modest waterfronts.
About the author
Kate Shaw is a critical urban geographer in the School of Geography at the University of Melbourne, with a background in urban planning. Her research looks at cultures of cities – at how and where people live, work and play. Questions of access and affordability are crucial to these choices. Kate's background is in alternative cultures, and she regularly advises governments and campaigns on local planning and policies to maintain them. She is presently deputy chair of the City of Melbourne’s Creative Spaces working group, a member of the Victorian state government’s live music roundtable, advisor to the City of Sydney’s live music taskforce, and part of the International Network for Urban Research and Action (INURA). Prior to becoming research-only, Kate taught planning law, statutory planning, urban design, and ran classes on political economy, gentrification and the cultures of cities.
Summary
The redevelopment of London Docklands set a new standard for urban regeneration. City governments all over the world now aspire to the high-rise, high-gloss, high-cost ‘office-residential-retail’ formula (just add iconic casino/luxury hotel/state-of-the-art stadium) that passes for mixed use in the early 21st century. Waterfront cities are especially captured by this vision of the spectacular: the sparkling, once-in-a-lifetime break that will catapult that city onto the world stage. Most of these waterfronts are former docks, shipyards and city utilities, deindustrialised in the late 20th century, close to the old city centre, with very high potential value. They enter the current phase as public land or a mix of devalued private and public ownership, offering some of the best opportunities a state will ever have to plan and deliver what its people need. What is being made of these opportunities? Many cities are using public funds to support their private redevelopment into increasingly indistinguishable corporate and soulless landscapes. But not always. This book reveals the squandered opportunities in the rich cities of Australia, Canada and Germany, and their subsequent efforts to salvage this land in the public interest. It shows that urban development that is hostile to local people is not inevitable, and that there are ways of doing it better.
