28 The and Humber Regional Review Winter 2009 Celebrating as it builds the slums of tomorrow?

There are many possible walking routes around central Leeds that allow residents and visitors to observe some of the undoubted success stories but also to contemplate some of the problems accompanying rapid development and regeneration. Ongoing debate about successes and failures is healthy if this leads to better understanding of the forces, both national and local, that shape the contemporary townscape and that may prevent costly mistakes from being made in future. Graham Haughton’s tour takes us westward along the waterfront from Leeds City Station to Clarence Dock.

eeds has a fine history of sponsored developed at a pace which has had little to do with traditional celebratory accounts of the city’s market drivers and everything to do with the insatiable appetite Lseemingly progressive future-looking of residential speculators for formulaic apartments.... activities. Who can forget Project Leeds: developers have continued to deliver untold amounts of Britain’s Motorway City of the Seventies standard investor product with a number of significant (, 1971), for instance. consequences: most apartments look the same, some lie empty There have been many other such accounts on completion, there is a complete lack of product diversity which, with the benefit of hindsight, come to and the quality of the buildings which have been delivered has Graham look rather quaint. The Leeds Tercentenary not, on the whole, been high enough to attract or keep Haughton, Official Handbook (Hirst, 1926), for instance, homemakers” (Jonathan Morgan, in Stillwell and Unsworth, University has sections entitled The ‘Do-it-all’ 2008, p. 127). of Hull Corporation and The Romance of Municipal These problems had been foreseen as far back as 2006, when Services. the architect Maxwell Hutchinson kick-started a much needed Leeds and its History: Three Hundred public debate when he declared some of the new apartment Years of Achievement , published by in 1926, developments were likely to become ‘the slums of the future’ opens a chapter on open spaces with the ringing declaration (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2006/09/13/ that “The provision of open spaces for the recreation of the skyline_inside_out_feature.shtml , which includes Hutchinson’s people is a purely modern function of a municipal Corporation. programme). And naturally so” (p.124). By 2008, this phrase had become part of common parlance The 1973 Leeds Planning Handbook notes that “Many locally, picked up by The Times, for instance, in an interview corners of Leeds are derelict or just untidy.... In recent years with a local estate agent (see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ the Council has reclaimed nearly 100 acres of derelict land... tol/money/property_and_mortgages/article3905055.ece ). and hopes to treat the remaining 260 acres by 1981 in its With most new development stalled, some properties largely reclamation programme. When reclaimed this land is used unsold or unlet, and prices reported to have slumped massively mainly to provide parks and playing fields” (Leeds Town from the peak of the property boom, the city centre boom has Planning Division, 1973, p. 45). Such high hopes and fine ideals. faltered — but it is too easy to blame the national property In the past few years there has been an outpouring of similar slump. In Leeds the boom years produced too much sub- celebratory accounts (e.g. Ibbotson, 2009; Wainwright, 2009) standard development, with poor design of both buildings and which are already looking premature, as the credit crunch their surrounding areas, notably with limited provision of social reveals the largely unsustainable basis of the Leeds growth infrastructure (GPs, schools, local shops), poor quality public project. space and inadequate provision of green space for residents. Whilst preparing for a walking tour this October, bought Too many of the residential blocks are badly sited, some some of the recently published offerings and was surprised by practically islands surrounded by busy and noisy roads, with how uncritical some of the content was. Of course there are little stepback or attempts at acoustic dampening to attenuate some good quality developments in the city centre and these the noise and pollution problems. One survey (Unsworth et al., can rightly be celebrated as in the recent RIBA publication, 2007) found 40 per cent owner occupation, though this figure which is heavily supported by the City Council and various need careful interpretation, not least in the light of the high private developers (Wainwright, 2009). vacancy rates in certain developments which are likely to lead Combining the celebratory and the critical more effectively is to an underestimation in the amount of rented properties. a recent commercially supported book which provides walking Others have estimated owner-occupied housing as being only tours around the city centre and is much more candid about 5-20 per cent of the total (see the two BBC and Times websites some of the problems that still face the city (Stillwell and articles cited above), with the main market being absentee Unsworth, 2008). landlords providing short-term accommodation for young Especially notable is this book’s use of inset commentaries to singles and couples, few families moving in, many flats empty provide a range of different viewpoints, including an achingly for long periods, and others used mainly as weekday second honest assessment of some of the standards of recent homes. This has allowed Leeds City Council off the hook in development by Jonathan Morgan of Morgans City Living: “Let’s seeming to meet some of its Government-set housing targets, be honest: the second wave of city living in Leeds has but done nothing to create sustainable communities. Winter 2009 The Yorkshire and Humber Regional Review 29

It is in this context that I offer to readers an alternative tour of stands empty, unable to attract buyers prompting the overseas , which takes in some of the parts that other owners to mothball the development until the market improves publications did not reach. (http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp? sectioncode=530&storycode=3112434&c=3 ). For all that the new block apparently enjoys marvellous views, North of the it is possibly the worst example of urban development and poor planning in the city centre and it is no surprise that prices at City My tour starts to the west of the railway station, north of the river Island have plummeted since it was built Aire, where a series of developments have sprung up along the (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/ river and main roads, some now occupied, some part empty, property_and_mortgages/article3905055.ece ). one standing empty. The ‘City Island’ development is What is frustrating here is that the original City Island architecturally the most notable of these. As the initial flats were development was reasonably good for central Leeds, providing being built, it soon became clear what an amazing new addition good urban space in the courtyard area, decent garden space to the city roofscape this could have been. and even some allotments and car parking well out of public The two curved buildings faced each other around a central sight. It is not perfect; it is hard to get to by foot or bike and, for courtyard, with a stepped roofscape creating what might the moment, is largely impermeable as a site to the rest of the variously be imagined as a pagoda style or something city, as residents are protected by large walls, locked gates, reminiscent of a medieval hilltop village in southern France or CCTV and security guards. This of course relates to one of Tuscany, enjoying north facing views over the river and the Leeds’ carefully kept little secrets, that this part of the canal Leeds Liverpool canal (Figure 1). towpath, though celebrated in much of the property publicity, is seen locally as a crime hotspot. On nearby Wellington Road/Street is a large new development which with its substantial and unimaginative use of vertical and horizontal lines and its general impenetrability somehow reminds me of a prison block more than a residential development (I have nicknamed it ‘B Block’ as I could not find the name on the outside of the building)(Figure 3).

Figure 1. Fancifully, a Tuscan village roofscape

Cycling towards it along the Sustrans canal towpath route truly raised the spirits, it looked inspiring. For a year. And then a massive, new block of flats was built up right in front of it, which skilfully combines the architectural subtlety of a grain silo and a public urinal. This now obscures the river and canal views for those in the earlier flats and, for the general public, takes away the whole majesty of the former skyline (Figure 2).

Figure 3. Close-up of bleak western frontage of ‘B Block’

The frontage facing the proposed Wellington Place development is a design abomination, presenting a largely blank wall to the street, denying engagement and interaction with passers-by. It offends most urban design principles, such as permeability, local context and respecting local buildings. In mitigation, the other side of the building has retail outlets including a supermarket on the ground floor, creating some interaction with the public domain. The proposed massive Wellington Place development is currently stalled, but to their credit the developers are grassing over parts of the area for the duration and have provided a five- a-side pitch (see foreground in Figure 2). A well-designed new footbridge crosses the River Aire linking these developments to the south central area of Leeds. One of Figure 2. More prosaic: City Island, the buildings to the left, phase the two buildings to the north of the bridge reflects well the 2 building to the right blocking views north to canal and River Aire recent Leeds tendency to provide ostentatious penthouse suites, which flaunt the wealth of their residents. Whilst there is some new public space provided around some This second phase building was originally intended to be of the new developments and a welcome opening up of the much smaller, but somehow was allowed to grow. It currently riverside walkway, there are also some poor examples of public 30 The Yorkshire and Humber Regional Review Winter 2009

space. Take the front of the building shown in Figure 4. I think it The surrounding public plazas are still being built. At the is difficult to design a city centre south facing plaza that fronts moment they look promising and might yet provide a useful on to a public path and riverside and not attract passers by to sit addition to the cityscape. However, it does feel like a lot of and dwell, but I pass this area a lot and rarely if ever see people residents are expected to move into an area with little open lingering here. space for them, so I can see the developments working well as short-term rented options or second-home flats, but am not convinced they will meet many of the Government’s aspirations for sustainable communities where people commit to an area and building a community there.

Holbeck Urban Village — exemplar for urban sustainability or simply a mess?

Moving on to nearby , this area was formerly dominated by small-scale industrial units and is now rebranded as Holbeck Urban Village, with an explicit agenda for creating an exemplar for urban sustainability. This type of rebranding is a fairly standard rhetorical tactic, presumably in the planners’ and developers’ minds somehow hinting at their aspiration to create a coherent ‘village’ high street feel linked to access to the city’s cultural facilities, with a hint of sustainability thrown in. The signature development in this area is the complex (Figure 6), an impressive redevelopment of an old set of industrial buildings into a range of offices, some apartments, eateries and a large car park. The issue here is really one of displacement of the original employment base as rents rise and owners are tempted to sell out or move their developments more upmarket. Allied to this is the aspiration that this becomes a new quarter for the creative industries of Leeds, generating some concerns about how to spread benefits to adjacent working class areas (Stillwell and Unsworth, 2008, p. 96-7).

Figure 4. Little-used public space, with ventilator shafts

Surrounding this area is a vacant lot currently used for car parking — if only this could be converted to a riverside park for the public, not least those in the new residential and office developments. Crossing the footbridge and walking along the Leeds- Liverpool canal eastwards soon leads to the new Granary Wharf buildings. These are a mixed bag: the hotel is a bland ‘anywhere’ development but the two tall apartment blocks are unusual for Leeds and quite daring in style, one like an inverted peppermill, and I like them for that (Figure 5). Figures 6. Round Foundry, Holbeck

The official website makes the right noises about improving connectivity and access to jobs for those living close by (http://www.holbeckurbanvillage.co.uk/about /), though there is no sense of how this might be done (as is traditional) or that local jobs might be simultaneously displaced. To the south of Holbeck Urban Village is a substantial cluster of new developments surrounding Yorkshire Forward’s head offices. There is a group of related apartment buildings here that at first sight seem to promise an inner peaceful courtyard for residents to revel in, protected by embankments and with trellises presumably intended to support vines or similar plants for summer shade. But sadly as you get climb up the embankment, what you see Figure 5. The peppermill, centre; to the left the new hotel and to instead is a large car park area with impermeable surfacing the right the city’s largest building, Bridgewater Place, both (Figure 7), whilst around the edge is what is often referred to as undistinguished architecturally and could be located in almost Space Left Over After Planning (SLOAP), small fragmented any city Winter 2009 The Yorkshire and Humber Regional Review 31 patches of greenery ostensibly adding to the public realm but in BBC TV programme, referred to it as “mundane, reality all but unusable as public spaces or private places. undistinguished... what an incredibly soulless place this is” (BBC www reference as before), whilst drawing out from his one of his interviewees how little provision there was for children and families. There is little more to add.

Figure 7. One of Veolocity’s carparks, not a ‘secret garden’ after all

The buildings themselves are standard product of their type, but some have attractive, south-facing balconies. Pity though anyone who invested in these balconied flats imagining they might capture the sun, for the planners have allowed the construction opposite them of a building with a large, vertical and bland facade that juts right up to the edge of the road. This results in a sensation of a shady and unattractive road, yet with a little setting back of the building or the upper levels at least, a sense of spaciousness could have been created and, dare I say it, liveability.

Clarence Dock and Saxton (Gardens)

My walking tour then works its way eastwards along the south bank of the River Aire, past the Asda headquarters, then on to Figure 8: ‘Echo alley’, approaching Brewery Wharf, with the Brewery Wharf complex, the redevelopment of what was the overshadowing of nearby buildings former brewery museum. Take the narrow newly created curved pedestrian route to the right that heads towards a very tall development that includes blocks of flats and offices, leading through to the new hotel. But first stop in the permanently shaded canyon that this development creates. Look around you, enjoy the paving, the different colours and the different styles of balconies too (Figure 8). But then try looking southward at the large building wall in front of you and thinking — does this area see much sun? Then try shouting at the south-facing sheer wall and listen to the small echo effect. Then try to imagine the fun of living here when drunken groups wander through at night and the awakening call of vacating hotel visitors clattering past with their wheeled suitcases. Then look at the smaller office building on the northern side of the alley, built with darkened glass windows that do not open (though there are some opening windows at the back of the building). Eco-architects talk of designing with nature — passive solar Figure 9. Clarence Dock, a soulless corporate capture simply means orientating buildings to capture the sun, space with little evidence of community. building in natural ventilation through windows, atriums and so forth. Designing against nature is building a small office complex in the permanent shadow of a much larger building From here, looking north across the river you can just see the that blocks out the sun for much of the day and requires rows of 1950s council flats called Saxton Gardens (Figure 10), constant inputs of energy for heating and ventilation. From a some of which have been very nicely done up in recent years, distance, this complex adds an intriguing new element to the with a lot of attention to improved aesthetics, security and Leeds skyline, but close up, some problems are soon revealed. private space. Above them are ranged two former blocks that Walking along to Clarence Dock, another pedestrian river were gutted and left as concrete skeletons ready to be pulled bridge is a welcome addition, whilst Clarence Dock is brash down, until Urban Splash was attracted in to create some new and over-developed (Figure 9). Maxwell Hutchinson, in his 2006 apartments, rebranded as ‘Saxton’ (Figure 11). 32 The Yorkshire and Humber Regional Review Winter 2009

and create a more ‘European’ style of urbanism, reminiscent of Paris, Barcelona and Rome. Leeds was an early advocate of pursuing policies to support ‘24 hour city’, hoping to see more cafes and bars spilling out on to the street in the continental fashion. Anyone who has dodged the large rowdy gangs of drunks staggering from one large corporate chain pub to another will know why there are not many evening pavement cafes in the city centre. The reality of Leeds’ attempted Europeanisation has been risible, not least in the attempt to introduce more people to living in the city centre. City centre living in most UK cities has resulted in overprovision of a new form of monoculture — apartment blocks and conversions of older buildings to apartment living, often developed hastily and with little control over quality and poor provision of both social and green infrastructure. Figure 10. Saxton Gardens Making matters worse, the Treasury insists that local authorities do not ‘hoard’ land, forcing them to sell off their land assets quickly for maximum financial return. This makes it all but impossible to provide new public parks of any substance in the new areas where housing is being introduced. Also, some developers got greedy, seeing Leeds as easy pickings for shoehorning in sub-standard developments that a more canny authority would have been able to negotiate much better standards of design and public realm, whilst coordinating developments in a more coherent fashion. Although the root causes of the problems are perhaps national, at local level the welter of policy statements does not appear to have helped very much, whilst the continuous pious statements in regard to issues of sustainability and social polarisation are belied by the reality of the slow progress being made on both fronts, with little distinctive emerging to mark the Leeds approach. In 1996, I edited a book about Leeds called Corporate City? (Haughton and Williams, 1996); by now it is clear that Leeds is indeed a ‘corporate city’, in thrall to big developers. The subtitle Figure 11. ‘Saxton’ of the book talked of partition in Leeds. That theme remains of vital importance to understanding the realities of the seeming transformation of the new extensions to the city centre. The interesting feature here is that the company has Leeds has been redeveloped, but for whom, to whose tastes, recognised the potential for conflict between the existing for whose profit, and why to such poor effect in terms of quality residents and those moving in, with the proposals including a of life? When visiting groups of students and international study wildflower meadow and orchard, and the creation of 30 groups come to look at the Leeds story, I suggest they have allotments to be shared by the two communities to encourage more to learn from my tour than the official ones they are likely interaction. This is then played up in the advertising for the new to be taken on by council officials. developments, populated by garden gnomes. It would be easy to sneer at this, but I like the fact that the company is at least trying to anticipate and address some of the References social tensions of the city caused by the juxta-positioning of existing communities with those moving into the area. Mostly the Author unknown (1926) Leeds and its History: Three Hundred city’s leaders have wrung their hands publicly about the issues Years of Achievement , Yorkshire Post, Leeds. of sustainability and social polarisation in a ‘two-speed’ Haughton, G. and Williams, C. (1996) Corporate City? economy whilst allowing business as usual to continue. Partnership, Participation and Partition in Leeds , Ashgate, Aldershot. Hirst, S (ed.) (1926) The Leeds Tercentenary Official Handbook Conclusions (Yorkshire) GB, Tercentenary Executive, Leeds. Ibbotson, N.A. (2009) Leeds City Beautiful , Breedon Books Why so much bad urban design and poor quality public realm Publishing, Derby. in Leeds? It is probably fairest to start at national level. Leeds City Council (1971) Project Leeds: Britain’s Motorway Government planning policy is for so-called urban compaction, City of the Seventies , Leeds CC, Leeds. encouraging higher residential densities in new development Leeds () Town Planning Division (1973) Planning whilst insisting nationally that at least 60 per cent of all new Tomorrow’s Leeds , Pyramid Press Ltd., . housing be developed on previously developed land. In Leeds, Stillwell, J. and Unsworth, R. (2008) Around Leeds: A City the Council has opted to increase the proportion of new Centre Reinvented , Leeds University Press, Leeds. development on brownfield sites from 74 to 82 per cent in its Unsworth, R., KW Linfoot plc and Morgans Cityliving (2007) City local public service agreement ( http://www.communities. Living in Leeds — 2007 , University of Leeds, Leeds. gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/134102.pdf ). Wainwright, M. (2009) Leeds: Reshaping the City , RIBA Both nationally and locally it is hoped that this approach will Publishing, London. address the shortfall in new housing, protect greenfield sites