...or Gloucester docks, or Hartcliffe. Regneration is supposed to refresh the parts that other economic benefits cannot reach. Andy Coyne reports from toughest places in the South West regeneration game.
Regeneration somehow looks better when a waterfront is involved. And however well you use inland waterways, there's nothing quite like doing up the docks to reinvigorate a place. Ask Liverpool, Cardiff and Gateshead.
And now you can add Plymouth to that list. It's large scale Millbay regeneration scheme is intended to turn the docks into a destination in its own right, link the waterfront and the city centre and bring in people and jobs. If all goes to plan, 15 acres of brownfield land will be transformed into a "coastal quarter'.
There is a feeling locally that Plymouth has all its ducks lined up in a row and, as work starts on the first buildings on the docklands site, local advisers and regenerators are confident that better times are around the corner for a city which has suffered from a poorly designed urban landscape and a decline in Ministry of Defence jobs.
Regeneration is at its heart a recognition of failure. This is usually to do with housing, urban design or unemployment, sometimes all three. The idea is that redevelopment can help to bring in new employers, boost a local housing market and get rid of the design blunders of the past.
If those developing Millbay need any advice from elsewhere in the South West they might be wise to look at the experience of Gloucester, where waterside regeneration is well advanced.
Antonia Shield, a partner at BPE Solicitors and a director of the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company (GHURC), suggests one of the issues regenerators face is to do with meeting public expectations on delivery time.
"The general feeling in Gloucester is that not enough is happening quickly enough," she said.
"It is going to take a long time but in ten years' time this will be a different place. There is no question of that. It's about trying to change the perception of people in Gloucester."
Gloucester's regeneration is complicated by the fact it is a cathedral city and has an extraordinary number of listed buildings.
"Gloucester is quite interesting in that the regeneration is aimed at the whole of the city and one of the challenges is to create cohesive regeneration," Shield said.
"The city has more than 700 listed buildings and a certain number of them are Grade 1. A lot of them are not being used and have fallen into disrepair.
"One of the challenges going forward for developers is that most areas allocated for regeneration have significant buildings in them. They have to be accommodated or redeveloped. The intent is to accommodate them within the new developments."
Shield suggests that a "disastrous" compulsory purchase order-led scheme more than a decade ago in the Blackfriars area has blighted Gloucester's development history.
"The area sits between cathedral and the docks so it is important to regenerate it. But you've got the Grade 1 listed Blackfriars Priory, which is currently unused," she said.
Shield readily admits the regeneration team have a big job on their hands.
"There are a certain number of criteria GHURC is supposed to achieve: to bring brownfield land back into use, create jobs, create more retail, bring back into use listed buildings, create lots of new homes," she said.
"It is regeneration with a diverse aim: seeking to regenerate the whole of Gloucester, the economy and the living environment."
Gloucester's ten-year regeneration plan is centred around its docks and quays. Much of the docks has now been redeveloped with warehouses being brought back into use as a mixture of residential conversions and offices.
The Gloucester Quays project is a major £3300m plus mixed-use regeneration scheme and a joint venture between Peel Holdings and British Waterways.
It started on site with a new college in 2005 and will provide more than 1.6m sq ft of floorspace. Plans include a designer shopping outlet, bars, restaurants and two hotels.
As in Plymouth, it is hoped that invigorating the city will attract employers.
"There has been leakage from the town centre to the business parks. Gloucester Business Park is very successful," Shield said.
"Office space is a key part of the regeneration, to bring employers back into the city."
Beyond the Quays, a masterplan for the Kings Square/bus station area is currently being prepared by Urban Initiatives. This is intended to help re-develop the city's central shopping area, which Shield says is currently "grotesque."
Also in: November - December 2007
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The city of the future
Swindon is facing the future with bold statements and ambitious regeneration projects. David Thame reports.
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It's tough at the top
Insider decided to chase the entrepreneurial vibe this month and in doing so it managed to catch up with Plymouth's very own "Deluxe Delboy', Chris Dawson. Known for his no nonsense approach to business and to life in general, he tells Peter Jump why things are only getting better for those in the South West.