Inner Cities In MEDC’s

The Inner City As explained earlier the Inner City is also known as the zone of transition. Most inner cities of large urban areas once had industry located there, however this has almost totally moved out. The Victorian terraces built to house thefactory workers remain in many inner cities, however in some they have been replaced by huge tower blocks.

A Simple Solution??? Although seemingly the solution to the problems produced by the terraces, the tower blocks also caused a wide range of social problems. Recently inner city planning has centred around rejuvenating the area in alternative ways, to try to encourage the growth of these declining areas.

Case Study: Birmingham Birmingham is a very good example of where, in the 1960’s, the local authority tried to rejuvenate the inner city areas by knocking down vast areas of Victorian terraces, replacing them with large tower blocks. The terraces were seen to be old-fashioned, with poor living standards. Often they lacked things that we would take for granted, like central heating, and had inadequate kitchen and bathroom facilities. The local authority decided that the way to combat the problems would be to knock down all the old terraces and completely start again. Many other cities around Britain did the same thing.

Case Study: Birmingham The buildings were poorly built and soon began to need costly repairs. They had poor facilities and few green areas. There was no sense of community for the people who lived there, leading to increased crime, vandalism and graffiti. All these things combined to make the area a dangerous one. Many areas of tower blocks were centres for drug traders and other criminal gangs.

Case Study: Birmingham The standard of living was poor, with illness and overcrowding a regular occurrence. Most people would not choose to live in this type of housing, so it was inhabited by the poorly paid, unemployed or new arrived immigrants. This led to socialt ensions and in the early 1980's inner city areas in Liverpool, Bristol and London all experienced serious rioting.

Case Study: London Docklands After the riots of the early 1980’s a report by Lord Scarman proposed a new way of dealing with inner city troubles. It suggested that these areas should be subject to urban renewal (improving existing buildings) rather than redeveloping areas by knocking them down and starting again. The London Docklands is the best known example of an inner city area that has been completely transformed in this way. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up to renew the area.

London Docklands: Last 20 Years The gentrification of old buildings. This basically means keeping the outside of old warehouses and gutting the insides. Often these are then refurbished to become very expensive riverside flats. The Docklands Light Railway and Jubilee Line extension have increased access to the docklands area, whilst the City Airport has allowed quick transfers to places throughout Europe.

London Docklands: Last 20 Years Low tax rates and rents have been used to attract large businesses to relocate to the area. Examples include the Daily Telegraph and many financial institutions. Canary Wharf Tower has been the centre point of this business influx. Housing has also been built, not just for the rich, young workers in the city, but also for the under-privileged groups who were living in the docklands area previously. Low cost housing has been built, and schemes set up to help people buy them.

London Docklands: Last 20 Years Community centres and services have been introduced to previously declining areas in an attempt to engender more community spirit. Leisure centres and shopping malls have all added to the community feel. Not all the residents are happy though, as many of the new jobs are too highly skilled for the original residents of the docklands, and they resent the new people coming into their area.