The Everyday Experiences of Reconstruction and Regeneration

From Vision to Reality in Birmingham and Coventry

David Adams, Peter Larkham

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781317032588
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Geography
• Index: Geography

Set within a wider British and international context of post-war reconstruction, The Everyday Experiences of Reconstruction and Regeneration focuses on such debates and experiences in Birmingham and Coventry as they recovered from Second World War bombings and post-war industrial collapse.

Including numerous images, Adams and Larkham explore the initial development of the post-Second World War reconstruction projects, which so substantially changed the face of the cities and provided radical new identities. Exploring these cities throughout the post-war period brings into sharp focus the duality of contemporary approaches to regeneration, which often criticise mid-twentieth century 'poorly-conceived' planning and architectural projects for producing inhuman and unsympathetic schemes, while proposing exactly the type of large-scale regeneration that may potentially create similar issues in the future.

This book would be beneficial for academics and students of planning and urban design, particularly those with an interest in post-catastrophe or large-scale reconstruction projects within cities.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 The process and product of reconstruction
• 2 Designing and delivering reconstruction
• 3 Disaster and opportunity: replanning Coventry and Birmingham
• 4 Memories of rebuilding
• 5 New model cities
• 6 Recollections of urban renaissance
• 7 Moving from vision to reality
• References
• Index