Jones, Bryan
(2014)
The impact of regeneration on existing communities in
Kent Thameside since 1991.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
A key aim underpinning the regeneration of the Thames Gateway in the 1990s and 2000s
was to ensure that the region’s existing ex-industrial communities were able to derive
tangible social, economic and infrastructural benefits from the new development taking place
on brownfield sites. A more inclusive and socially aware form of regeneration that learned
the lessons from the property led regeneration that took place in the London Docklands in
the early 1980s was promised.
This study examines the extent to which this ambition has been achieved in Kent
Thameside, one of the key ‘growth areas’ identified by the Government in the Thames
Gateway. Using evidence from extended interviews with residents living in three existing
Kent Thameside communities and key regeneration officials, as well as detailed observation
of events and developments in Kent Thameside, this study examines the impact of the
principal regeneration objectives relating to the area’s existing communities.
It looks first at the extent to which new developments and existing communities have been
integrated both physically and socially. It then considers the impact of policies which were
designed to empower existing residents by enabling them to participate in the design and
delivery of programmes relating to the area’s physical and economic regeneration. This
study uses this analysis to examine whether the Kent Thameside regeneration model, which
is predicated on the private sector led redevelopment of large, brownfield sites outside the
existing residential footprint, is best placed to achieve to the regeneration objectives relating
to existing communities. This study also considers what lessons can be drawn from the case
study of Kent Thameside to inform our understanding of the policy and practice of
regeneration in the wider Thames Gateway and the UK.
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