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ULI UK Residential Council | The benefits of creating great places to live through culture and community (part 2)
2 February 2022
During the Residential Product Council Meeting in July 2021, members discussed the role of culture in successful residential developments and key examples of what genuine integration of culture into developments looks like. To celebrate the knowledge shared at the event and make it available to as many residential product council members as possible, the council have created a four-part series where speakers share an example of a cultural challenge addressed and the outcome achieved through the inclusion of an integrated cultural element.
In the first part of the series, Gordon Seabright (Chief Executive, Creative Land Trust) discussed the value of a creative workspace for developers and investors.
In the second part, Victoria Hills (Chief Executive, Royal Town Planning Institute) covers the regeneration of Smith’s Dock, a former ship repair yard in North Shields.
“The appetite for cultural led regeneration remains considerable. We only need look to the impacts of Glasgow in 1990, Liverpool in 2008 both as European Capitals Of Culture, Hull in 2017 as the previous host or Coventry currently embracing its year as the UK City of Culture. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that 20 bids have been submitted to host the next celebrations in 2025.
We at the RTPI celebrate the positive role that planners play in our society through our awards for Planning Excellence.
The regeneration of Smith’s Dock shipyard in North Shields was a 2021 finalist in the Excellence in Planning for Heritage and Culture category submitted by Urban Splash and Places for People. The space had become derelict following closure of the docks in 1987. I would like briefly to explore this project, which is rejuvenating an area underpinned with cultural and heritage significance.
Smith’s Dock is a prominent former ship repair yard overlooking the mouth of the River Tyne in North Shields. Steeped in heritage, the dock dates from the 1850s; where it supported a thriving industry for more than a century, welcoming some of the world’s biggest ships before closing in the late 1980s.
Places for People acquired the site a decade ago investing an initial £20m to remediate the site and develop its infrastructure to ensure that it was ready for future development. This included investing into the wider Fish Quay regeneration proposals such as the North Shields ferry terminal with a new passenger landing and facilities created through support from the Smith’s Dock scheme.
The planning officers at North Tyneside Council have worked closely with the applicant to ensure that important adjacent uses such as nearby listed buildings and conservation areas have been complemented by the scheme. Similarly, the needs of the existing operational Port of Tyne have been a major consideration in the site’s design, with the local authority carefully meditating between the Port and the applicant to ensure that both contrasting uses can still take advantage of the riverside’s natural assets.
To date, over 100 new homes have been delivered on brownfield land with green space, a restaurant and plans for a neighbourhood also created. On completion it will house more than 800 homes and apartments. The site has acted as a catalyst for developing the wider historical culturally significant Fish Quay on the north shore of the River Tyne in a joint venture partnership between Urban Splash and Places for People.”
Our thanks to all the speakers for taking part in the event and thanks to Victoria Hills for sharing her expertise here.
Stephanie McMahon
ULI UK Residential Council Chair