5.5 – Successful Places?

Sydney, global city

- In 2015, population was 4.8 million (2019 – 5.3 million)
- 1.2 million are from the UK, New Zealand 617K and China 447K
‘Successful places’
- Sydney is part of an economically successful region along Australia’s south-east coast, stretching 2000km from Brisbane to Melbourne
- Found that this region cities has a large proportion of high-income jobs in the ‘knowledge economy’
- Sydney was one of the world’s ‘Alpha’ cities’ (Loughborough University’s Globalisation and World Cities Research Networks)
- Strengths in the quaternary sector
- Economy = 2013 US$337 billion Beattyville – a declining rural settlement
- Leading financial centre for the Asia-pacific region - Located in Kentucky ‘coal country’
- Young economically active workforce, with a median age of 36 (UK – 41) - The coal industry’s decline has caused many social
- It has low levels of multiple deprivation problems
- Attracts businesses because of its beaches, harbour environment and climate - Median household income = $12,000 (national - $54,000)
- Time zone allows business trading in the USA and Europe - Half of families live below the poverty line
But it costs! - 1/3 of teenagers left high school without graduating
- Average income is around AU$82,000 year (£42,000) – higher than the UK - 5% of residents had college degrees
- World’s seventh highest of any city but it is very expensive to live there - 2013 – drug overdose accounted for 56% of all accidental
- Ranks between the world’s fifteenth and fifth most expensive city deaths in Kentucky
Meanwhile ... in the rust belt
- Clairton, Pennsylvania is a small town of about 6000 people
- Largest USA’s coke manufacturing facility – processed coal for steel industry
- Population has significantly declined – used to be 20,000 in the 1950
- Has de-industrialisation
- Several reasons for decline of the rustbelt: overseas companies produce cheaper coal and steel, mining companies have mechanised to cut costs, and
lower wage costs in the south-eastern USA
- Only survives because of government subsidies that keep prices low; without these, companies cannot compete globally and create a negative
multiplier
- The problems that this spiral of decline has caused: population decline, brain drain, high employment and crime, and reduced revenue for councils
5.6– Engaging with places
Opening day at the community shop
- On a Friday in the Nov. 14, a crowd gathered in Grampound (pop. 800) for the opening of a new community shop – this show how people can
engage with a local project they believe in
- Grampound faces many similar issues to other village
- Villagers who work in Truro or St Austell shop in big supermarkets on their way home from work – previous general store closed in 2013, when
owners retired and couldn’t find a buyer
- Grampound still has a small primary school, pub, furniture shop and smoked foods shop, which serves local hotels
- Data from the 2011 Census revealed that 25% of Grampound’s population was aged over 65, and a third of households consisted of single people
- Cornwall has the lowest mean weekly income in the UK
- Social isolation is present with the elderly so shopping locally helps to relieve it
Community action
- Grampound remains a thriving community
- It has a sense of engagement which have birth to the community shop:
o Out of 280 household – 257 becomes shareholders in new shop (£20,500)
o A nation charity also awarded £19,000
o Grants, charities, and companies added another £10,000
Wider significance
- Grampound shows that certain factors determine how engaged people become with the places in which they live:
o Key people who are willing to stand for elections etc.
o A range of activities
Wider engagements
- National turnouts has fallen – 1951 82.6% and 2015 66.1%
- Turnout also varies geographically – tends to be higher in rural areas
Why does engagement vary?
- Age = those aged over 60 are also more likely to vote in elections
- Gender = more women engages in community work then men
- Ethnicity and length of residence = engagement with communities is unlikely to develop in so short a period
- Deprivation = ‘the poor don’t vote’ – when combined with ethnicity it increase the likelihood of voting
Regeneration and engagement
- Brings change to communities, and can therefore cause conflict
Conflicts occur because ...
- The process is top-down (designed by planners, developers and local or national government)
- Most schemes are based on economic motives
- Groups disagree about what regeneration is about, and who it’s for
Regernation schemes in Cornwall
- Locally = 2008 proposal to build 69 new houses in the village (1/3 was classed as ‘affordable’)
- Regionally = plans for a waste incinerator as part of local economic expansion at St Dennis in centre
- Nationally = supported renewable energy
5.7 – Investigating the need for regeneration
How to spot regeneration
- Regeneration is easy to identify – look for cranes, earthmovers, fencing, and concrete
The process of regeneration
- Economic process involving different players
- In the UK, it usually involves partnerships between central government and the private sector
- But it goes more widely – Docklands were transformed an area socially and environmentally,
Analysing the need for regeneration
- Custom House has been undergoing regeneration since the mid-2000s
- Part of project knows as CATCH (Canning Town and Custom House)

Custom House – the need for regeneration

The Custom House is a ward near Canning Town. In the 2001 Census, it was revealed that it was one of the London’s most deprived areas. In terms
of the economy, the area needed employment. In 2001, only 36.7% of adults work in full time, compared to London average of 51.6%. The area also
needed improved housing, health facilities and education. Furthermore, the closure of the docks in the 1980s result in environmental decay and
resulted in derelict land and deindustrialisation.

This programme has cost £3.7 billion so far. Preparing a case for regeneration involves statistical evidence, such as Census data. The 2011 data
included deprivation data and those claiming out-of-work benefits.
A simple analysis of the data shows interesting patterns:
- The wards of Canning Town North and South have some of the highest deprivation
- It looks as though relationships exist between different sets of data – percentages of people living in social housing might be related to the
percentage claiming out-of-work benefits

- It focus has been on community-led regeneration

Regenerating Custom House
- The CATCH programme in Custom House initially focused on four areas to benefit the community:
1) Housing
10,000 affordable new homes were planned for construction by 2020
Much of the exisiting social housing was poorlu built and needed renovation
2) Employment
There was job creation and training for local people, plus opffices and workspaces were made abaolable for small businesses
New local shops and a supermaekr were open
Public transport was improved
3) Education
Replacement building for local primary and secondary schools were built.
4) Health
A new health centre, library, community centre and children’s play areas were opened
The streets were made safer by redesigning them using traffic calming and open spaces
Since 2010, the government funding has been cut.