Regenerating Places
,Firstly, it is important to note the differences between Regeneration and Rebranding:
Regeneration – the long term social, economic and physical action in order to reverse the decline of an area, and
create sustainable communities. It focuses on the fabric of the place, the physical infrastructure, such as creating
new buildings and spaces with new purposes. PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENT
Rebranding – involves changing the way a place is marketed, for example the way it identifies as. Often a place is
rebranded to attract new businesses, investors and visitors, as well as residents. PERCEPTION IMPROVEMENT
There are 5 different economic sectors:
Primary Secondary Tertiary Quaternary Quinary
Extraction of raw Manufacturing and Service sector e.g. High tech research Knowledge
resources e.g. processing e.g. Iron tourism and and design management,
mining or farming and steel or Car banking consultancy e.g.
manufacturing leadership/CEO’s
Plympton, Scunthorpe Aylesbury Cambridge London
Dartmoor SW Sunderland NE SE England E England SE England
England England
Quaternary - providing specialist services
in finance and law or industries such as IT
and biotechnology.
Quinary - the most recent sector which is
an important aspect of the increasing
‘knowledge economy’. The Quinary sector
represents the highest levels of decision
making in an economy-the top business
executives and officials in government,
science, universities, non-profit
organisation, healthcare, culture and
media. It is concentrated in STEM
employment.
,Primary and secondary sectors declined in the 1980’s after Thatcher’s Conservative government overhauled the UK
economy. Primary and secondary sector industries were more expensive in the UK than abroad because of the high
cos of extraction of coal (deeper underground) and UK wages were higher than overseas). Therefore, many UK mines
and manufacturing plants closed during the 80’s.
Tertiary and quaternary sectors grew in the post-industrial economy. Tertiary sector saw a growth in tourism and
retail, due to higher incomes, cheaper air travel and increased car ownership. Some parts of the U sought to rebrand
their pasts to create a new image. However, unlike industrial jobs, these jobs were often seasonal. Quaternary sector
(knowledge economy) saw fastest growth. The quaternary sector is described as footloose meaning they can be
located anywhere.
,
, Success of a region is seen by having high levels of employment, output levels (GDP), in-migration, quality of life and
low levels of deprivation
Successful areas are often growth poles, where there is a high concentration of highly innovative and technically
advanced industries that stimulate economic development in linked business and industry. They also tend to be self-
sustaining.
However, there may be negative externalities such as overheated property prices, congestion of roads and public
transport and skills shortages
Case study – Berkshire (Southeast England) – A successful area
Social reasons:
• Well equipped for modern life – mobile phone signal has 98% coverage in area and one of highest average
broadband speed in country at 26mbps download speeds
• Generally good schools, and a rising population due to inward migration of wealthy young adults
• Good transport links to London Paddington
Economic reasons:
• High employment rate – 77% of all people who live in Berkshire are employed. Also has the highest average
income at £619.00 per week
• High disposable income allows residents to buy more of the things they want thus higher quality of life
• Has the British HQ for BMW and Waitrose, two very large companies
• Towns are ready to support the flourishing tech industry
• Proximity to Heathrow and London means commuting workers have easy access
Environmental reasons:
• Lots of open and green space such as parks make it an attractive place to work and live (Areas of outstanding
natural beauty)
• Unlike urban areas, companies would have lots of ground space to work with
• Situated close to countryside and close to London, on an area of flat land which is easy to build on
