‘McGeneration’ ? An Examination of the Continuing Importance of Place in Cultural Regeneration. Amanda Brown PhD 2011 ‘McGeneration’ ? An Examination of the Continuing Importance of Place in Cultural Regeneration. AMANDA BROWN A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Research undertaken in the School of Social Sciences March 2011 1 Abstract The regeneration of urban places is a major force in the landscape of previously declining industrial cities. The processes and policies of regeneration have received considerable research over the years, with a particular emphasis on quantitative indicators to capture large-scale effects. One major change has been the rising role of culture within regeneration. In this thesis, a closer, qualitative view is taken to investigating urban regeneration, to uncover a narrative of two particular and related concerns within cultural urban regeneration. On the one hand, the risks of homogenisation as standardised practices are transferred globally; on the other, the demand for distinctiveness, and for regenerated areas to demonstrate unique and appealing characteristics to mediate global processes, and attract inward investment of economic, social, and human capital. The thesis focuses on the iconic space of the waterfront, and studies three major regenerating cities in the United Kingdom, studying the dynamics of culture, homogenisation, and distinctiveness. From an initial synthesis of theories, a thematic framework is constructed. The thesis then captures the understanding of those themes as articulated by forty-seven elite actors who work within cultural regeneration in the three case study waterfronts, exposing the continuing impact of place in the face of homogenising forces. 2 Contents Title Page 1 Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of figures 8 List of tables 8 List of appendices 9 Glossary 9 Acknowledgements 11 Chapter 1: On the Waterfront: Re-establishing the specificity of place in cultural 12 regeneration 1. Introduction 12 1.1 Context 15 1.1.1 McGeneration and locality theory 15 1.1.2 The waterfront 16 1.1.3 Culture and the urban 18 1.2 Aims 21 1.3 Introduction to the chapters 22 1.4 Methods of investigation 24 1.5 Contribution to knowledge 26 1.6 Summary 27 Chapter 2: Locality, Place and the Urban 28 2. Introduction 28 2.1 Locality and place theory 29 2.1.1 The power of place 33 2.1.2 Sense of place 37 2.2 Globalisation 39 2.2.1 Culture 42 3 2.2.2 McGeneration 44 2.3 Policy transfer 47 2.4 Cultural regeneration 49 2.5 Urban design 52 2.6 Place consumption and place promotion 56 2.6.1 Marketing and branding 59 2.6.2 Place image and identity 61 2.7 Summary 63 Chapter 3: Cultural Regeneration: The Policy Context 64 3. Introduction 64 3.1 The urban problem 65 3.2 The history of urban regeneration policy 69 3.3 Cross-national policy transfer 74 3.3.1 American experience 77 3.3.2 European experience 83 3.4 Cultural renaissance 85 3.5 Regenerating waterfront places 91 3.5.1 Waterside development – the challenges 94 3.5.2 Remaking the urban waterfront 97 3.6 Summary 98 Chapter 4: Case Studies in Cultural Regeneration: a Methodological Approach 100 4. Introduction 100 4.1 Methodology 101 4.2 Interpretivism 103 4.2.1 Ontology and epistemology 104 4.2.2 Interpretivism research strategy 107 4 4.3 Case study approach 108 4.3.1 Selection of data sources 108 4.3.2 Choosing the case studies 110 4.4 Research design and analysis 111 4.4.1 Research design 111 4.4.2 Elite interviewing 112 4.4.3 Reliability in findings 116 4.5 Conducting the research 116 4.5.1 Data analysis 119 4.5.2 Secondary sources and scoping study 119 4.6 Summary 122 Chapter 5: Characterising the localities 123 5. Introduction 123 5.1 Liverpool 127 5.2 NewcastleGateshead 134 5.3 Glasgow 141 5.4 Cultural approaches 148 5.4.1 Branding 150 5.4.2 Events 151 5.4.3 Iconic buildings 153 5.4.4 Research 156 5.5 Summary 157 Chapter 6: An Examination of Homogeneity in Cultural Regeneration 159 6. Introduction to the homogenising (McGeneration) agenda 159 6.1 Creative Classes 162 6.1.1 Florida’s magic bullets 162 5 6.1.2 Competition for talent 164 6.1.3 Creative places for creative classes 166 6.2 Place as ‘commodity’ 168 6.2.1 Quick fixes 168 6.2.2 Places for tourism 169 6.2.3 Selling images of place 171 6.3 Consumption cities 172 6.3.1 Consuming a sense of place 173 6.3.2 McGeneration 175 6.3.3 Local consumption 176 6.4 Competitive cities 178 6.4.1 City positioning 178 6.4.2 Title race 182 6.4.3 Models to emulate 184 6.5 The new cultural spaces 188 6.5.1 Flagship places 189 6.5.2 Place-shaping 193 6.5.3 New waterfront places 196 6.6 Summary – culture, place, and homogenisation 200 Chapter 7: An Examination of Local Distinctiveness in Cultural Regeneration 202 7. Introduction to distinctiveness (distinct local practice) agenda 202 7.1 Local cultural identity 203 7.1.1 Local pride 203 7.1.2 Local character of place 206 7.1.3 Rooted experience 209 7.2 Distinct urban governance 213 7.2.1 Key local agents 214 6 7.2.2 Leadership and vision 216 7.2.3 Silo working 220 7.3 Path dependency 222 7.3.1 Place-shaping 223 7.3.2 Lesson learning 224 7.3.3 Cultural route to regeneration 226 7.4 Socio-economic characteristics 229 7.4.1 Previous changes 229 7.4.2 Culture and regeneration 231 7.4.3 Locally specific 234 7.5 Distinctive urban form 238 7.5.1 Waterfront uniqueness 238 7.5.2 Distinctive city edge 240 7.5.3 Best practice exemplar 242 7.6 Summary – homogenisation and distinctiveness 245 Chapter 8: McGeneration – the continuing importance of place? 247 8. Introduction 247 8.1 Policy context 254 8.2 Formulaic solutions 255 8.3 Locality and place 257 8.4 Contribution to knowledge 259 8.5 Methodological debate 260 8.6 Future considerations 264 8.7 Summary 267 References 268 Appendices 299 7 List of figures Figure 1: Map of the three case study locations and comparator exemplars 26 Figure 2: Key thinkers on space and place 31 Figure 3: Cross-national policy transfer of the global agenda to the local level 76 Figure 3.1: Map of the LDDC regeneration areas and staged withdrawal 81 Figure 3.2: The types and outcomes of twenty-first century cultural 96 regeneration on waterfronts Figure 5: Employment in the UK 125 Figure 5.1: Output, productivity and employment rates: change (1993-98) 126 Figure 5.2: The Albert Dock prior to water infill, c1980s 129 Figure 5.3: Liverpool waterfront 134 Figure 5.4: NewcastleGateshead Aerial Map, from a TWDC report, 1995 136 Figure 5.5: NewcastleGateshead Quayside 141 Figure 5.6: Glasgow Garden Festival site after clearance 1989 144 Figure 5.7: Glasgow waterfront 148 Figure 5.8: Cultural strategy types 150 Figure 5.9 Three case study brands 151 Figure 5.0.1: The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) Glasgow 154 and its waterfront Figure 5.0.2: Liverpool’s convention centre next to the Albert Dock 154 Figure 5.0.3: The Sage Gateshead seen from the Newcastle side of the River 155 Tyne Figure 8: Local and generic processes 249 List of tables Table 3: Developments in the 17-year lifecycle of the LDDC 82 Table 5: A snapshot profile of Liverpool 132 Table 5.1: A snapshot profile of NewcastleGateshead 140 8 Table 5.2: A snapshot profile of Glasgow 146 Table 8: Summary overview of the date for the five homogenising themes 252 Table 8.1: Summary overview of the data for the five distinctiveness themes 253 List of appendices Appendix A: Table of policy 298 Appendix B: List of interviewee organisations 303 Appendix C: List of semi-structured questions used at interview 305 Appendix D: Example interview transcript 307 Appendix E: Ethics 317 Appendix F: Scoping Study 318 Appendix G: Table of key points from the data 319 Glossary CCPR Centre for Cultural Policy Research CISR Cultural Investment and Strategic Impact Research DCMS Department for Culture Media and Sport DoE Department of the Environment EC European Commission ECoC European Capital (City) of Culture GEAR Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal IGF International Garden Festival LARC Liverpool Arts and Regeneration Campaign LDDC London Docklands Development Corporation LEP Local Enterprise Partnership 9 LSP Local Strategic Partnership MDC Merseyside Development Corporation NGI NewcastleGateshead Initiative ODPM Office of the Deputy Prime Minister SDA Scottish Development Agency SECC Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre SRB Single Regeneration Budget TWDC Tyne and Wear Development Corporation UDAG Urban Development Grant Programme UDC Urban Development Corporation UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization URC Urban Regeneration Company 10 Acknowledgements As an undergraduate student in Newcastle in the early 1990s, I came across urban regeneration studies. My learning centred on economic geography and pre-twenty-first century approaches to developments tackling the urban problem. This, along with observing first-hand the major cultural developments on NewcastleGateshead Quayside, sparked my renewed interest in the field of regeneration. This ultimately led to the research reported in this thesis. I express my sincere appreciation to Northumbria University for the studentship I was awarded, which enabled me to undertake my doctoral research. I acknowledge the continued support the University gave to my development as a graduate researcher.