London (Re)generation

Plans to regenerate East London and transform the capital are integral to the vision of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This title brings into focus notions of regeneration within the specific context of London: what does the term actually mean, how has it been applied and is it being applied? Historical overviews of large–scale interventions from the past are combined with case studies of new and planned schemes, and explorations of how change and rejuvenation can retain or enhance the city’s unique sense of place and identity. Looking beyond the Games, the title will look at the direction in which regeneration is going in a post–recession economy. How can a long–established, highly protected and even cherished city, like London, continue to renew and expand? Unlike Chinese or Middle Eastern cities, London is constrained by a wide range of factors from heritage protection and geography to finance and democratic accountability; yet the city continues to grow, change and develop, either incrementally or through big, dramatic leaps, like the Olympic Park and King’s Cross. In this way, London provides a fascinating case study of how a developed, Western city can negotiate and greet the pressures for change. Contributors: Michael Batty, Peter Bishop, Matthew Carmona, Murray Fraser, Matthew Gandy, Robert Harbison, Peter Murray and Austin Williams Architects: Sir Terry Farrell, Richard McCormac, Projects: King’s Cross, the London 2012 Games and the Shard.

Editoral (Helen Castle) About the Guest–editor (David Littlefield) Introduction (Re)generation: Place, Memory, Identity (David Littlefield) The Global Architectural Influences on London (Murray Fraser) London Bridge / The Shard (Edward Denison) Approaches to Regeneration (Peter Bishop) King’s Cross (David Littlefield) The London Way: The Politics of London’s Strategic Design (Matthew Carmona) Bankside Urban Forest (David Littlefield) Neo Bankside (Matthew Gandy) Urban Regeneration as Self–Organisation (Michael Batty) Olympic Park, Stratford (Hattie Hartman) What is a City? (Austin Williams) White City: the Art of Erasure and Forgetting the Olympic Games (David Littlefield) A New Overground Line and the Sense of Place (Robert Harbison) Battersea / Nine Elms (Edward Denison) The Role of the Estates: From Agriculture to Urbiculture (Sir Terry Farrell) Trompes L’Oeil (Mike Devereux) The Power of the Image (Louis Rice) Centring on the Olympic Fringe (Steven Tomlinson) The Thames (Sir Richard MacCormac) Some Key Figures in London’s Regeneration (Peter Murray) Elephant and Castle (David Littlefield) Works In/on//Around///Behind Progress (Hilary Powell) Where Does the City end?? (Matthew Gandy)