David Johnson, partner and head of construction at law firm Boodle Hatfield explores the challenge faced by Liverpool in the race to regenerate.

A RECENT REPORT from the Institute for Public Policy Research, “Two track cities – the challenge of sustaining growth and building opportunity”, has highlighted the fact that, despite 15 years of steady economic growth, there is increasing polarisation between successful cities which enjoy dynamic local economies and those which remain affected by high unemployment and low skills.

In the early 1980s Liverpool was identified, notably by Michael Heseltine, as an area suffering high unemployment, extreme deprivation and low investment. Since then a variety of national and EU policies have been directed at the regeneration of Liverpool and other cities with a shared industrial and commercial heritage.

The report measured the performance of 56 of our cities and large towns on a range of factors, including employment and unemployment rates, population growth, employment growth, benefit claimants and adults without qualifications. It found Liverpool was still the worst performing of these cities and towns.

The process of regenerating Liverpool’s built environment has proceeded by fits and starts since the 1980s. The Albert Dock project was completed, and Speke Airport was redeveloped – and famously renamed. Listed buildings have been refurbished and city centre apartments constructed. On the other hand, there was the “Fourth Grace” fiasco, and the International Garden Festival site
notoriously lay derelict for a number of years after the festival closed. However, the past few years have seen the commencement of wide-scale redevelopment of the run-down city centre, which will be radically improved by a number of current and projected developments.

By far the largest development project in Liverpool, and the largest retail development in Europe, is Grosvenor’s Liverpool One project. This is a £920m redevelopment of 42.5 acres around Paradise Street, in the city’s retail centre. To be completed between 2008 and 2009, the project will deliver 160,000 m2 of retail space, including large John Lewis and Debenhams department stores, a 14-screen
cinema and 23,000 m2 of restaurants, cafes and bars, a five acre park, two hotels, 450 apartments, offices, a new bus station and parking for 3,000 cars.

Collaborative working with the City Council, wide consultation and public participation has been a feature of the Liverpool One project. The masterplan for the project was prepared by a joint Liverpool City Council and Grosvenor team, and was the subject of extensive consultation with a large number of stakeholders. Public workshops were held at which the developing masterplan was discussed, and the finished product was presented at a public meeting.

A visitor centre has proved popular, with over 100,000 visitors in the first year. Liverpool One has created over 3,000 construction jobs, many for local people: Contractors were required to use local labour and to offer apprenticeships to young people. Once completed, it will create some 4,000 permanent jobs, mostly in the retail and leisure sectors.

Government policy remains committed to the regeneration of our cities, and in reality there is no alternative to this:
Given the extent to which Britain is an urban society, these cities are Britain, and only if all our cities achieve a process of constant, dynamic renewal will the gap between best and worse performing cities be reduced.

Improvement of the built environment is a major element in this process, and the extent of the engagement between the developer, the local authority, and the local community on Liverpool One is a model for future urban renewal projects. But future projects will also face new challenges: Liverpool One was conceived in the opening years of the new millennium, since then the issue of global warming and the need to construct “green buildings” has become an important consideration.

Government policy, bolstered by planning policy statements and promised incremental tightening of the building regulations, already calls for all new homes to be “zero carbon” by 2016. This policy is likely to be extended to all new buildings: Part L of the Building Regulations already expects all new buildings to achieve similar standards. Planning policy statements require developers and local authorities to consider, as part of all new developments, the possible inclusion of on-site renewable energy. As well as avoiding contributing to global warming, new developments will have to survive global warming. This does not just mean coping with higher temperatures: the recent floods are a possible indication that our future climate will be more volatile and prone to extremes.