Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s introduced a top down development strategy where its the national government that planned regeneration projects.
The urban policy implemented was called property led initiatives in the form of Urban Development corporation and enterprise zones. the area which this was implemented at was in the Docklands now Canary Wharf.
History of the Docklands
The River Thames had been the focal point for London’s urban sprawl due to the river connection trade routes across the world. This allowed merchants to trade goods with area with the area like spices, gold and silk.
As a result, the Docklands area had experienced high economic prosperity. One reason for his decline was containerisation. This was an international knew standard where all containers had to be of the same size created by the American industrialist Malcolm McLean. The common size for a container has led to the creation of large cargo ships. These ships could not travel as far up the River Thames up to the old dockyard, so a new dockyard had to be established in the town of Tilbury, further up the river. As a result, this had created regional unemployment as demand for workers had fallen, which led to many homes being repossessed as workers could not pay its mortgages. This had led to a spiral of declined as the area had attracted homeless people and experienced higher crime rates, which created a negative perception about the place.
Another reason was union workers demanding higher wages, which had made labour more costly, thus had relocated elsewhere where labour is much cheaper. In addition, the oil crisis of the 80s had created a general decline in the area, which had only exacerbated the spiral of decline.
Therefore, thatches property led initiatives was meant to increase property development in aid which would create a positive multiplier effect and stimulate economic growth. The enterprise zones what areas where business is what offered tax-based incentives to set up their businesses there. This in theory was meant to incentivise more enterprise in the area creating more jobs and stimulating the positive multiplier effect.
| Positives | Negatives |
|---|---|
| Over 6 billion pounds in private sector investment | Increased property prices which led to subsequent increase in rent prices causing local people to be priced out of the area |
| Over 100 million pounds in education | Destroyed the local identity in locale |
| Retraining schemes the creation of the mill wool public park which provides benefits to the local urban climate and the carbon cycle | Created the polarisation of wealth between poor and rich people which led to social tensions, |
| The enterprise zones were exploited by existing businesses. | |