Can a design-led approach to redevelopment deliver city centre regeneration? A Liverpool case study of the design dimension of planning and development processes A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Town Planning in the Faculty of Humanities 2017 Victoria Lawson School of Environment, Education and Development 0 Contents Contents 1 List of Figures 7 List of Tables 9 Abstract 10 Declaration of Authority 11 Copyright Statement 11 Dedication 12 About the Author 12 Chapter One: Introduction 13 1.1 Introduction 13 1.2 Funding urban-scale development 15 1.3 The rise of the outdoor mall 16 1.4 Introducing the case study 18 1.5 The rationale 19 1.7 Justification 20 1.8 The structure of the thesis 22 Chapter Two: Reviewing the literature and framing the study 24 2.1 Statement of purpose 24 2.2 The development of capitalism and the growth of cities 24 2.3 Urbanised capitalism and aesthetics 25 2.4 Pursuing design quality in the built environment 27 2.4.1 Defining ‘design led’ in the production of space 30 2.4.2 The public’s influence on design 31 2.5 Towards a theoretical framework 33 2.5.1 Critical realism 33 2.5.2 The selection of key theories 35 2.6 Postpolitics 36 2.6.1 Masterplanning 39 2.6.2 Stakeholder practices 41 2.6.3 The ‘design meta-narrative’ 41 2.6.4 Public-private partnerships 41 2.6.5 Shadow consultations 42 2.6.6 Delegated powers 42 2.6.7 The press 42 2.7 Democratic urban settings 43 1 2.7.1 Privatisation of space 43 2.7.2 Phantom firms 43 2.8 The city makers 44 2.9 Semiotics 45 2.9.1 Problem processing rather than problem solving 46 2.9.2 Symbolism and drama 47 2.9.4 Phenomenology 48 2.9.5 Personal responses to place 49 2.10 Mobilities 50 2.10.1 Global networks and global cities 50 2.10.2 Relational geographies 52 2.10.3 Onward migration and spatial fixes 53 2.10.4 The cosmopolitanization of taste 54 2.10.5 Sophisticated consumers of place 55 2.11 Summary of the most significant gaps in literature 56 Chapter Three: Generating and analysing the data 58 3.1 Introduction 58 3.2 Overview of the study 58 3.3 Justification for the case study approach 60 3.4: Conceptual model 61 3.5 Justification for the choice of case study 63 3.6 The case study strategy 64 3.6.1 Interpretative-historical analysis 65 3.6.2 Semi-structured interviews 66 3.6.3 Online surveys 68 3.6.4 Critical discourse analysis 69 3.7 Alternative data collection methods 70 3.7.1 Observing environmental behaviour 71 3.7.2 Observing physical traces 73 3.7.3 Site analysis 74 3.7.4 Academic robustness 75 3.8 Ethics and informed consent 76 3.9 Recruiting, first contacts and interviews 77 3.10 Accessing an online community 78 3.11 Organisation and analysis of data 80 3.12 Conclusion 81 2 Chapter Four: How the scene was set for Liverpool One 83 4.1 Introduction 83 4.2 Early success: 1700/1800s to the First World War 83 4.3 Mercantilism 86 4.4 The interwar years: the start of the industrial era 87 4.5 Immediate post-war: The Shennan Plan 90 4.6 Post-war regeneration until 1970 91 4.7 The 1970s: the post-industrial era 97 4.8 The 1980s 100 4.8.1 Merseyside Development Corporation 100 4.8.2 Merseyside Task Force 101 4.8.3 The Militants 102 4.9 The 1990s: the dawn of the urban renaissance era 104 4.9.1 The close of the 1990s 108 4.9.2 New Labour 108 4.9.3 The Unitary Development Plan 109 4.10 Post-2000 to the present day 111 4.10.1 Preparing the ground for Liverpool One 112 4.11 Conclusion 117 Chapter Five: Mediating design at the local level 119 5.1 Introduction 119 5.2 Why the planning mechanisms were reconfigured 119 5.3 The Member Working Group 121 5.4 Weekly Design Review Meetings at the outline stage 122 5.5 Weekly Design Review Meetings at the detailed stage 123 5.6 Policy Backdrop 124 5.7 The culture of people having fun 125 5.8 A hierarchical public consultation process 127 5.8.1 The top tier: major consultees 127 5.8.2 The middle tier: the stakeholders 128 5.8.3 The lower tier: the general public 129 5.8.4 Special consultations 130 5.8.5 The public exhibition 131 5.8.6 Public Design Review Meetings 131 5.8.7 Lobbying councillors 132 5.8.8 The shop 133 5.10 Shadow consultations 135 3 5.11 Behind closed doors 136 5.12 A phantom firm 137 5.13 A can-do city 139 5.14 A Cautionary Tale: the over-pedestrianisation of Liverpool city centre 140 5.15 Conclusion 143 Chapter Six: Mobilising resistance 146 6.1 Introduction 146 6.2 The Oldest House 147 6.3 The Quakers 150 6.3.1 The negotiations 153 6.4 Quiggins 155 6.4.1 Quiggins and the punch-through arcade 157 6.4.2 A cause célèbre of a displacement argument 160 6.5 One Park West 163 6.5.1 Dealing with dissent 165 6.6 Why so few objections? 166 6.6.1 The right to receive accurate information 166 6.6.2 A confusing process 171 6.6.3 More confusion: who was in control? 172 6.6.4 Overwhelming scale 173 6.6.5 New style consultation 175 6.6.6 Other reasons 176 6.7 Conclusion 177 Chapter Seven: Applying ideas of best practice in the real world 179 7.1 Introduction 179 7.2 A very site-specific response to the city of Liverpool 179 7.2.1 The use of scale 180 7.2.2 A settled feel: the look of age and familiarity 181 7.2.3 Stability 183 7.2.4 Replicating diversity and organic growth 185 7.2.5 The retail offer 185 7.2.6 Weather protection 187 7.2.7 Partaking in the Liverpudlian party atmosphere 189 7.3 The Best Part of the Day 191 7.3.1 Coherency through limited colour palettes 192 7.3.2 Measured quiet/traffic free 192 4 7.3.3 Predictability of space 193 7.3.4 A pristine environment 195 7.3.5 Seemingly light touch security 196 7.4 Trouble in paradise: the problems of an oasis 198 7.4.1 The edge 198 7.4.2 Backs 199 7.4.3 Techniques associated with segregation 200 7.4.4 The outer edge 202 7.4.5 Zones of influence and chaotic edges 203 7.4.6 The contrast in tight controls 204 7.5 The power of benign good design 204 7.5.1 Socio-spatial impacts of high-end shopping 205 7.5.2 A place that is not for everyone 207 7.5.4 Feelings of exclusion 208 7.5.5 Everything is fine 210 7.5.6 An allowance of space for social good 211 7.5.7 Too much focus on presentation 213 7.6 A strange way to do business 215 7.7 Conclusion 216 Chapter Eight: Creating ‘the right environment’ 218 8.1 Introduction 218 8.2 A backdrop of quality 218 8.3. The British urban renaissance and its continental ideals 219 8.4 The typologies of Liverpool One 223 8.4.1 It’s a Great Estate 223 8.4.2 It’s a mall 223 8.4.3 It’s a mixed-use development 224 8.4.4 It’s a regeneration scheme 224 8.4.5 It’s a large multi-occupied, managed environment 224 8.5 Tribute developments 225 8.6 Wanting a city which is ‘on par’ 231 8.7 Balancing between recognisable and new/fresh 232 8.8 Saying something meaningful about Liverpool itself 235 8.9 Tracing forward 240 8.10 The scheme’s financial geography 242 8.10.1 How LCC accumulates and spends their Liverpool One income 245 8.11 Conclusion 248 5 Chapter Nine: Main findings 250 9.1 Introduction 250 9.2 Revisiting the study’s primary aim and its objectives 251 9.3 Key theoretical implications of the study 251 9.3.1 Postpolitics 251 9.3.2 Semiotics 252 9.3.3 Mobilities 253 9.4 Theoretical propositions 254 9.4.1 Postpolitical propositions 254 9.4.2 Semiotics propositions 255 9.4.3 Mobilities propositions 255 9.5 The study’s key, more practical findings 256 9.5.1 Design-led schemes can be socially regressive 257 9.5.2 A culture of ‘lightness’ around design 259 9.5.3 Infringements of personal freedoms 259 9.6 Limitations of the study 260 9.7 Recommendations for future research 261 9.8 Final words: the main story recapped 262 References 263 Appendix 1: Participant Information Sheet/Consent Form: Professionals, specialists and lay experts 281 Appendix 2: Participant Information Sheet/Consent Form: Objectors/commentators and users/intended users of the scheme 286 Appendix 3: Semi-structured discussion guide: Professionals, specialists and lay experts 291 Appendix 4: Semi-structured discussion guide: Objectors/commentators and users/intended users of the scheme 294 Appendix 5: Survey Monkey Questions 297 Appendix 6: Time Line 299 6 List of Figures Chapter One Figure 1.1: The Grove, Los Angeles 17 Chapter Two Figure 2.1: The 152-page Liverpool One masterplan 40 Chapter Three Figure 3.1: Liverpool One, ground floor with street names 59 Figure 3.2: The pre-development site was brownfield 64 Figure 3.3: The finished scheme 64 Figure 3.4: William H.