Finding a trigger for regeneration and growth

MIPIM UK: “Everybody wants an innovation district,” says Gavin Poole, chief executive at Here East. “They want the next big thing to come out of their city or town.” Delancey’s Here East is just that, a 1.2m sq ft campus bringing technology and economic growth to the £120m regeneration at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, E20. “The Olympic committee realises that for cities to engage there has to be something in it for the people after the greatest show has come to town and left.” But Poole stresses the innovation district is not for every developer. “There is no point putting a biotech or life sciences development where there is no history, opportunity or access to talent.” Regeneration should be led by local demand, skills and industry, panelists at EG’s Regenerating Cities session at MIPIM UK argue. But what if you don’t have the luxury of an Olympic park, complete with a legacy committee and £9bn of infrastructure investment? Is there still hope for regeneration in those towns and cities? Tapping local talent “For those who haven’t got those trigger moments, if you look at every town, city and region, there are things which need to be done,” argues Poole. Developers should look to local industry, education and skills strengths, he adds. “It is about trying to work out what asset class you have available and the employment opportunities.” Poole points to the opportunities for Bridgend, Wales, in the wake of Ford’s impending departure. While the automotive giant will close its plant in 2020, which will see the loss of 1,700 jobs, Ineos Automotive has recently announced that it wants to build a new 4×4 in the town, bringing with it some 500 jobs. “If I was in Bridgend, what I’d be doing is not just relying on Ineos, but looking at what other industries support that and how I can bring them in,” he says. In this way, says Poole, regeneration can be kick-started by tapping local talent to both respond to business demand and proactively attract new occupiers. But development can also answer to larger needs on a national level. Nationwide demands “There is a desire to start meeting the housing crisis,” says Jackie Sadek, chief operating officer at UK Regeneration, which this year got consent for a 1,500-home urban extension of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. “There is a desire to prove that you can actually build quality homes to a volume at pace. That you can do it commercially without legging over the community and without comprising the natural environment.” But, she adds, “It is bloody hard to find any examples of anyone out there doing it”. [caption id="attachment_980979" align="aligncenter" width="847"] The Biggleswade development. © HTA Design[/caption] A major challenge for Sadek is the lack of traffic infrastructure in a rural location. “We’re in an arms race here. I’ve got to find a new way of getting people around a market town that isn’t dependent on the private car, because we just can’t do it anymore.” Sadek says she is focusing on introducing alternative transport solutions, quality outdoor spaces and energy efficiency but is coming up against short-term, dated demands from planning officials. “I’m being put under enormous pressure by our planners to do three car-parking spaces for every resident, which is madness,” she says. ‘Planning rewards mediocrity’ While the demand for housing drives regeneration, Sadek is coming up against planning barriers concentrating on short-term needs, rather than embracing longer-term transformational thinking. “You end up dumbing down your application in order to get it through the planning process,” she says. “We had to come across like a pretty bog-standard housebuilder to get a planning permission and our case officer rubbed off all the sparkle and magic.” Urban Splash founder Tom Bloxham says these “short-term commercial fixations” have led to poor-quality development: “Places where we are now regenerating for the third time in a lifetime”. “The planning process is driven by the use class agenda, rather than a quality agenda,” he says. “Sadly, all too often, mediocrity is rewarded in simple planning applications. If you don’t push the boat out too far it is easier to get planning permission and as soon as you do anything different, planning can be a challenge.” Planners need to be bolder, says Waheed Nazir, Birmingham City Council’s director for inclusive growth. “I genuinely do think we’ve lost our way in the planning profession,” he says. “When I did the Birmingham Big City Plan I ignored all the national rules and I just wrote a masterplan that made sense to me, engaged with all the partners and adopted it. I didn’t follow the process, because that would have taken four years.” Engaging the population Nazir has brought forward billions of pounds worth of regeneration and thousands of homes for the city. He also recently published a book called Regenerating Cities with tales from industry leaders such as Tony Pidgley, Alison Nimmo and David Partridge. But Nazir says there is no silver bullet for regeneration: “Each geography is very different. “You can look at lots of catalysts for projects but, actually, the success of any place, whether it is a rural village or a city, is in its DNA. [That is] what makes it different,” he says. Birmingham has benefited from infrastructure and trigger events such as the Commonwealth Games. But it has also brought on development by promoting the strengths of different pockets of the city, from Smithfield Market to Urban Splash’s canalside townhouses at Icknield Port Loop and the city’s own digital campus at Innovation Birmingham at Aston University. “If you engage and celebrate [what makes a city different], generally that reflects the population and they will be more engaged, rather than gentrifying communities and neighbourhoods.” The panel Tom Bloxham, founder, Urban Splash Waheed Nazir, director of inclusive growth, Birmingham City Council Gavin Poole, chief executive, Here East Jackie Sadek, chief operating officer, UK Regeneration Chair: Damian Wild, editor in chief, EG To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette