DIY Urban Regeneration

Bradford, and particularly the city centre, is in need of regeneration.  Parts of the city have a youth unemployment rate that is more than double the national average, the city centre is near the top of the charts for vacant shop units and stalled development projects have blighted the city centre, a place which faces competition from other centres across West Yorkshire and beyond.  The textile industry in the city has left a legacy of many empty mill buildings, some of which have fallen victim to fires and some have been subject to stalled development proposals (such as Midland Mills, below).


The city is forecast to have one of the fastest rising populations in the UK over the coming years, which presents a challenge as to how all these people are housed.  Property developers are not wanting to take any risks in these turbulent times, so are opting for what seem to be 'safe bets', greenfield and low density houses with gardens and space for cars, a Castle for the Englishman - or Mondeo man.

The mechanisms for delivering regeneration have changed in recent years.  Large scale regeneration projects led by the public sector do not fit with the Government's austerity policies, changes to the availability of finance mean that large scale city centre apartment development, driven by speculators, are a thing of the past.  But the city still has empty buildings, people to house and needs to be a place where companies can start-up or want to move in to.

Community Led Development
Non for profit mutual societies can be set up to secure development.  Brixton Green has issued shares to the community to secure the redevelopment of a council owned site close to the centre of Brixton.  FC United  have issued shares to the community to build their own stadium at Newton Heath.

The Creative Foundation is Folkestone is a charity that has acquired dis-used buildings in the town, leading to the establishment of a Creative Quarter.

Closer to Bradford, the LILAC eco housing scheme in Bramley is currently under development.  This is a mutual home ownership society, where members have joined the co-operative and twenty homes are being built.  LILAC has secured investment through loanstock, where investors can lend the co-operative funds over a fixed period.  In Slaithwaite, the Green Valley Grocer (below) has thrived after the village's greengrocers was bought by the community, following a share issue and the shop provides an outlet for locally produced food, which would not have been possible without the community buying into the venture.

Bradford does have some co-operatives already, the 1 in 12 club and Brances and The Hive housing co-operatives. 

But in the meantime...

The meantime phenomenon has certainly not missed out in Bradford, as demonstrated by Fabric's Pop Up Art Space, Urban Garden and Hand Made in Bradford. The Pop Up People report looked at how vacant spaces have been used temporarily, a theme that was explored in an earlier blogpost.  With Bradford's number of empty shops, this needs to be pursued.

Bradford is yet to have its multi-million pound Westfield shopping mall, but those hipsters in Shoreditch made a whole shopping area out of shipping containers, Boxpark (above).  If shopping in shipping containers seems a bit too far fetched for Bradford, there is certainly scope for small scale intervention.  I walk through Bradford Interchange everyday, it must have one of the highest levels of footfall in the whole city, it will be the first thing that many people see in the city... but just look at it:



Get some greenery on the top of the walls, a climbing plant up those poles and add a bit of colour to those glass panel things and it would just look a whole lot less drab and just a bit more welcoming!

Can we do DIY Regeneration in Bradford?
Why not?  How much confidence is there in other forms of regeneration at the moment, in fact do these even exist any more?  Banks aren't lending money and developers aren't taking risks, but regeneration still needs to happen and someone needs to fill that gap.

Imagine if it was the people who had regenerated places like the Goitside area (below), which had a high number of residents and workers occupying the empty buildings.  Imagine if the community owned and operated the Odeon building and large vacant buildings like Highpoint and Sunwin House were handed over for a large range of retail, arts and entertainment venues - that'd be amazing!

The squeeze on local government finances and the recession require an innovative and adventurous response, particularly in Bradford where the need for regeneration is so acute.  Community led development would help improve Bradford's image, reinforce its identity and help the city centre sustain a larger residential population, which in turn would support shops and services.

So, over to us.

The Mayoral Referendum and the City Centre

Next week, voters in Bradford will go the polls and decide whether or not we should have a directly elected mayor.  The Prime Minister David Cameron has called the referendums a 'once in a generation chance to change the way our country is run', though presumably not outside of the ten cities that do not have a referendum on the issue.  Despite this once in a generation chance, a nationwide poll finds that many are against the changes.

The reasons to support a directly elected mayor are, according to David Cameron, for cities to become "more powerful, prominent and prosperous", presumably through strong leadership and more accountability - though how have places like Doncaster, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool experienced such a shift since having directly elected mayors in the early 2000s?

Doncaster's mayor is English Democrat, Peter Davies - former Labour party, Conservative party and UK Independence party member and father of Shipley's MP Philip Davies.  Peter Davies has used his platform as directly elected mayor to deny climate change, cut funding related to minorities and multiculturalism and to advocate withdrawal from the EU .  The voters of Doncaster will again go to the polls to decide if they want a directly elected mayor, having had one for ten years already, and most local businesses would like to see the continuation of a directly elected mayor, though an earlier survey shows that residents in Doncaster don't agree.

Middlesbrough elected 'Robocop' as Mayor, Ray Mallon.    Since Ray Mallon was elected, The Boro has seen an improved town centre, the opening of MIMA, a reduction in crime and the town set out its ambitions by bidding for city status.  Ray Mallon would seem like a good advert for an elected mayor, though maybe not when it comes to taxis.

North of the Tees, Hartlepool elected a monkey as mayor.  Stuart Drummond, is now in his third term as mayor in Hartlepool, having being originally elected as Hartlepool United's H'Angus the Monkey mascot. Drummond, an independent, beat another independent candidate into second place in his last election in 2009. The independents in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool and the English Democrat candidate in Doncaster perhaps show elected mayors as a way for people to shun the mainstream parties in favour of a new approach.

The arguments against an elected mayors are the cost, that it is undemocratic for so much power to be placed in one pair of hands and that there is a danger that people will vote for people more on personality, than their policies.  

Bradford has had no-overall political control for over a decade and this could be a factor that is stifling the regeneration of the city centre.  The leadership has changed between a Labour and Lib Dem coalition, to a Conservative and Lib Dem coalition, and back again.  Local politicians might be less willing to take bold steps and big risks because of the danger of losing their leadership at the next election.  

A directly elected mayor would have a platform to make big bold decisions and the right candidate could help raise the profile of the city in a positive manner, but ultimately it depends who would get elected.  Where ever voters are in the city, they want value for their council tax and they want services to be delivered efficiently.  But then there are the social divides in the district, people will have different priorities for what the council should be doing and how they should be spending their money.  Then there are spatial divides, if the city did have a mayor - would they be able to convince voters in outlying areas such as Ilkley and Keighley that the regeneration of Bradford City Centre is important for them?

For those people who care about the city centre, it is imperative that the importance of the city centre and its relationship to the rest of the district is promoted.  If the city votes yes for an elected mayor and the city centre's regeneration is seen as a big vote winner for a prospective candidate, it will ensure lots of debate about how the city centre moves forward and hopefully lots of action.  But it doesn't mean this process of promoting the city centre and taking the best course of action for its regeneration can't be reached if the city votes no.

Beautiful Bradford

Walking around Bradford on a Spring evening, when the sun has come out just after it has rained, is beautiful. Beauty being a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses (thanks Google).

I think the rain must wash the buildings some how and it brings out a different hue in the bits of grass that are visible in the city centre. The sky is either blue or dark grey, so the sunlit stone, concrete and brick all contrast sharply with the sky. Then there may be other colourful elements like a rainbow overhead or blossom in the trees. The long shadows cast by the slowly setting sun also add another element to all the different light and colour that one can see. The topography of the city and the different heights and materials of the buildings, as well as the hills in the background – if you’re looking from far away, all combine perfectly to form something beautiful.

Do you think that there is a time of day, or time of year when Bradford looks better than on a Spring evening?  

Will the Odeon bloom in the Bradford Spring?

All Eyes on Bradford

The past week in Bradford has been fascinating.  The City Park opening saw thousands come into the City Centre on Saturday, bask in the lovely spring sunshine and see a whole day of entertainment.  Other new things came into the city centre, the Hand Made in Bradford shop and the Life Online gallery at the Media Museum.  Bradford was trending on Twitter throughout the week, with the Bulls fighting for survival and the Bantams fighting.  The main news story for the city centre was the election of George Galloway in the Bradford West by-election, which has ensured people from outside the city passing on their expert opinions on the city.



Enter George Galloway

Whilst a lot of the focus on Galloway’s campaign has been on the targeting of the Muslim community in Bradford West, focusing on issues such as the Iraq war and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the campaign also focused on local issues.  He has identified the Odeon as one of his main priorities and the non-development of the Westfield site as another.  It seems as though many voters think that George Galloway will bring something new to the local political table, outside of the ‘big three’ parties.  The election of Galloway in the city may have the same impact as having a firebrand directly elected mayor, an issue that we will decide on in a referendum in May.  The issue of having strong leadership from a directly elected mayor is important in a city that has had over a decade of no overall control in the council chamber and that now returns MPs from four different parties to Westminster.

The Save Our Odeon website summarised the views on the Odeon from the by-election candidates. The Conservatives and Labour party showed no apparent view on this issue, with the Liberal Democrats wanting to demolish it or retain the towers.  The other parties sought to save, regenerate, redesign it or at put the issue over to the local population.  The lack of response from the Conservatives and Labour on this is perhaps symbolic of their campaigns. Indeed, the Odeon issue might not be important for some people – A survey of young people from the Bradford Property Forum states that the Odeon does not hold sway for many people.  But the Odeon holds a special place in the hearts of many Bradfordians that would like to see it saved.

The ownership of the Odeon has now passed to the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), following the winding up of the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward.  The winding up of Yorkshire Forward, the winding up of Bradford’s Urban Regeneration Company, the architechts going into administration and financial troubles plaguing the developer have renewed hope that the Odeon can be saved.   A developer has come forward that wishes to retain the cinema building as a performing arts institute, again renewing hope that the building can be saved.


Should the Odeon be saved?

If the Odeon is saved, it will ensure that a unique building – unlike many others in Bradford, in terms of the era it was built in and materials used would survive. A building where The Beatles played and, in the UNESCO City of Film, where many people will have seen their first film, had a first date in the back rows that lead to a happy marriage or saw a film that really inspired them.  The HCA provided a damning report of the interior of the building which suggests that it would be very expensive to restore the building back to its former glory, but there have been urban explorers who have seen the building that do not agree with this. There are so many reasons that point to saving the Odeon, both emotive reasons and to preserve the architecture which is unique in Bradford.

If the Odeon is not saved, there is the danger that the site will become another ‘Westfield’, a derelict hole next to two of the most visited buildings in the city (The Alhambra and the Media Museum), opposite a flagship public square and opposite the Southgate development, where many travellers will stay at the Jury’s Inn and see a derelict hole from their window.  Ensuring that this situation does not happen would have to be built in to any agreement to redevelop the site, unlike Westfield.  Any new building would have to be bold, striking, unique to compliment its neighbouring buildings and to provide a stirring backdrop to the City Park.  The building’s use should also compliment its surroundings, therefore in this case – a destination for culture and leisure.  When all these things are considered, then the argument to retain the building is strengthened.

The New Victoria scheme to replace the Odeon contains offices, apartments and hotel accommodation.  The apartment market has probably changed beyond recognition since 2005 and it seems unlikely that there will be any major development of apartment buildings in the city centre in the near future.  Bradford has seen many budget hotels open in the last few years and Travelodge, Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, Hilton and Jury’s Inn now all have hotels in the city centre.  It would be interesting to see if any hotel companies have requirements to fulfil in Bradford City Centre – are there many other companies left outside of the ones already here? As for offices, the city centre does need top-spec office space to try and attract companies to relocate here.  There is a lot of vacant office space in the city centre, but much of this is built in an era when businesses had different requirements.  But there is the Police and Magistrates Courts site across the road overlooking the City Park, and possible long term development opportunities such as Jacob’s Well Council Buildings.

There are signs that all is not lost with the Odeon, it may flourish in the ‘Bradford Spring’.  Keep your eye on Bradford Odeon Rescue Group, Save the Odeon and City of Film in the coming months.

Spring is in the air

Spring, according to the definition on wikipedia, relates broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. Does this apply to Bradford City Centre?  Whilst the Odeon development project (or lack of) or the Westfield development project (or lack of) have been grabbing the local column issues, would suggest Bradford is moribund, but there's lots going on to suggest Bradford is very much alive.


The much talked about City Park has its opening ceremony on March 24th, this Saturday, including musical performers, theatre, parkour and fireworks (and who doesn't like fireworks, except family pets maybe?).  Fabric's Hand Made in Bradford also opens on that day, with Loosely Bound's Zine Extravaganza there too.  Saturday is also the last day of Mark Power's excellent 'The Sound of Two Songs' exhibition, at The Impressions Gallery, just by City Park.  In the evening, there's Dublab at the Polish Club, a screening of 'Room at the Top' at City Hall, 'The Diary of Anne Frank' at the Alhambra and the night before, the world famous Halle Orchestra are playing at St George's Hall. March 23rd sees live literature from Word Life vs How Do Magazine at the Polish club. 


Next month, the city will be hosting the 18th Bradford International Film Festival, with Oliver Assayas, Barbara Windsor and Ray Winstone, amongst others as guests and a diverse range of events.  
Minicine will be at Glyde House for their Mini-Bloodbath, a screening of one of a choice of four horror films and later at the Polish Parish Club for a whole day of Polish cinema. The cinemas at the National Media Museum, show many different films. 


Of course there are loads more things happening in central Bradford and the wider city. Bradford Buzz and How Do Magazine are two fine sources of information for seeing what is going on.  It may not be mainstream, polished and in your face, but there is so much happening in the city right now.

What businesses might work in the city centre?

Back to the opportunities post of this blog (that is the most important post on the whole blog), of the few things listed there are several which intrinsically linked to weaknesses and threats that the city centre faces.  The opportunities this particular blog post is looking at is: new retailers, creative use of retail space, evening economy and nightlife.  These are mainly linked to the weaknesses: shopping provision and footfall; and to the threats: rents, business rates, competition from elsewhere, abandonment and spiral of decline.  Clever eh?

Basically I keep thinking of what businesses would be welcome additions, that aren't too unrealistic, ones that I would run if I had the start up capital and business experience.  I wish I had those things, but even if I didn't I would still be put off by the things mentioned above in weaknesses and threats.  I will try and include references to existing independent businesses along the way, because there are a fair few already!

So here is a list of things that seem to work well in other places and that aren't ridiculously ambitious:

Good independent coffee shop
Bradford's not exactly lacking in coffee shops: Starbucks (x2), Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee are all in the centre.  I usually go to these places for coffee and, they're ok, but I could be anywhere.  There are some  independent cafés, like the Red Room on Queensgate which do nice coffee and food, and Le Café Bleu on North Parade too.  But it would be nice to have somewhere that was more like a coffee bar, Coffee Evolution in Huddersfield (below) comes to mind.  Somewhere that serves good coffee, has free newspapers available to read and is just a little less polished than its chain counterparts and maybe does music, poetry, philosphy etc 'out of hours'.    (@AtkiTeach also suggested this)

Milkshake / Ice Cream shop
I remember seeing places like Shakeaway down south, that make milkshakes with all kinds of chocolate bars etc.  They seem to be popping up in more and more places now, like the two (Shakesville and Shaake) that are in Huddersfield and Shakeaholic in Leeds and the North East.  Dewsbury has got a new Ice Cream parlour, Igloo, in the town centre.  These places seem very popular and offer something for younger people and families (no not necessarily healthy!).

Cocktail bar
We've got some good pubs and bars in the city centre, places like the Sparrow and City Vaults are good places in their own right.  I'm sure there are places that provide cocktails too, though maybe not to a more mature crowd.  I think places like Font in Manchester (below), Sandinista in Leeds or Vox in Huddersfield would be very welcome additions to the Bradford night scene.  Cocktails, food, good beer...



Diverse food establishments - (half way between a restaurant or a takeaway, but not a café)
The city centre has places to go for a curry, Italian restaurants, a Russian restaurant, somewhere to get Polish food; its got the usual chain places and a handful of takeaways to get food and a few cafés too and a tiny Japanese Noodle Bar in the market. But, it'd be good to have somewhere independent that hits that sweet spot between all of these.  Somewhere like Elephant in Brixton Village which sells Pakistani street food or Pinto in Glasgow which sells Burritos would be nice, or a bigger version of the Japanese noodle bar!  There are loads of great food places in the city, but I can't think of many in the city centre where I would want to go in on my own, eat some nice food and then just leave.  Not a takeaway, not a restaurant - not sure how to explain that!

Restaurants
@TanyaVital suggested that more international restaurants would be welcome in the city centre, @KeithWildman said restaurants but not curry restaurants.  I think the aforementioned Russian restaurant is a good example, but there are loads of different cultures making up the city, so international restaurants would be a good draw.  It would be good for one of the big curry restaurants from the city, like Zouk or Akbars to open up in the heart of the city centre, as Bradford is the curry capital after all (and not Brick Lane).

Chocolate / confectionary shop
Other than the often much maligned Thornton's, I'm not sure what else there is in the city centre.  I can't see Hotel Chocolat coming here any time soon, but if someone could learn a few things from them selling nice chocolate with good customer service, it would be welcome and I could see somewhere selling American 'candy', like Candyland in Galway, being very popular.

Card / Stationery Shop
We've got card shops, places like Clintons and ones on the market.  Personally speaking, I like the foul mouthed cards they sell at Scribblr and the cards of Paperchase.  Again, I can't see these coming to Bradford any time soon, but there's opportunities for an independent to capitalise here.


Clothes Shops
I buy many clothes from fairly cheap chain stores, so I'm not best qualified to speak.  There are some clothes shops like TDF and AN-X in the centre already, but I'm not sure how much of a range is covered by shops in Bradford.  @Atkiteach suggested more clothes shops, with an online presence, to stop his other half shopping in Leeds.

A Department Store?
Bradford is currently lacking a department store, it had Busby's many years ago, Brown Muff - later Rackhams until the 1990s and Sunwin House until the 2000s, @KeithWildman identified a department store as something that could be accommodated in Bradford.  The Westfield development when it goes ahead, is most likely to have a Debenhams in it.  However, there are independent department stores still, like Psyche at Middlesbrough (below), something like that would greatly enhance Bradford's retail offer.


Charity shops
I'm not joking, here.  We've got loads of charity shops, these could be a lot more attractive if the goods were presented well, perhaps as vintage shops, rather than charity shops.  Perhaps Bradford College fashion students could fashion up some charity shop chic?  @Bonebabe suggested somewhere with a good seamstress  to adjust charity shop purchases and a personal shopper service for those of us that don't have a creative eye for a bargain.

Food Shop
@Atkiteach suggested an Asian / Oriental food shop, with a range of spices, offering an online service, there are already (market) and Sing Kee supermarket that may be offering this (though without the online part) already. etc.  @FlawedMonkey said that the Polish deli from Manningham Lane would be a welcome addition to the city centre.  @FlawedMonkey also suggested a bakery for the city centre (not Greggs, sorry Greggs!), I think somewhere offering a good range of treats like the village bakery in Saltaire or the Bakehouse in Huddersfield would fit right in, or somewhere to enjoy good bread like Breads Etcetera in Brixton (below).  @FlawedMonkey finally suggests a health food shop, Bradford does appear to be lacking an independent shop. Personally speaking, I would like somewhere that does a good range of vegetarian and vegan food to go, like Eighth Day in Manchester or Food Therapy in Halifax.



So there you go; Bradford city centre shouldn't be like any other place, but it would be good to borrow things from Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Manchester, Leeds, Brixton, Glasgow, Galway, Manningham, Saltaire, Halifax and where ever else to become more vibrant.  On reading through, it does seem a bit like a middle class wishlist, but shops and businesses like these would be very welcome in the city centre!

Bouncing Back

Bradford's Bouncing Back, was a marketing campaign for Bradford in the 1980s, which I'd never heard much about other than people talking about it and saying 'bounced back my arse' or something similar, obviously people in Bradford aren't known for their cynicism about anything.  Liz Green on Radio Leeds had a discussion on her show about how to sell Bradford, I spoke on there and didn't really add much that hadn't been said - and couldn't help have a dig at the negativity of some people in the city.  The question Liz was asking though is, how do we sell Bradford?  A couple of days after this, I was over in Headingley at the Oxfam bookshop and I found 'Laugh? I nearly went to Bradford!' by Tom Clinton, all about Bradford's Bouncing Back.

Bradford had suffered a lot in the decade or so preceding the start of the Bradford's Bouncing Back campaign.  Peter Sutcliffe had been at large, then there was the terrible fire at Valley Parade in 1985 and then the city had suffered badly from the deindustrialisation of the 1970s onwards, as well as the Honeyford Affair and negative perceptions of racial segregation.  Fast forward 25 years and the city is still seen as having an image problem, visible in the city centre from prominant derelict buildings such as the Odeon, the Westfield site, another mass-murderer in Steven Griffiths and the city is still in the shadow of the 2001 riots.  The TV programme 'Make Bradford British' has been summed up very well by a couple of locals Keith Wildman and Kate Wellham, as well as loads of others.

The Clinton book talks through the campaign, the cynicism it faced and the positive impacts it had on the city. The campaign was based on Smiles Better in Glasgow, not much like it had been done before. The campaign's first HQ was in a Portakabin on the pre-Centenary Square Market Street straight outside City Hall.  It was considered the campaign generated over a million quids worth of publicity (from a spend of £142k) and got the name of Bradford out there across the UK and beyond in a positive light and some David Hockney artwork (above), even generating tourism interest to this grim northern town.  The campaign created a focal point for the public and private sectors to work together. In the Autumn of 1988, when the Council was under the leadership of now Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, the funding for the project ended and it was unable to be sustained privately.  Its difficult to consider what project the difference would have made if it had run for a little bit longer.

The end of the book is looking to the future and is very positive, with talk of the Victoria & Albert Museum moving north to Manningham Mills (above, which got converted into flats by Urban Splash) and the rejuvenation of Little Germany The West End project is perhaps a sad thing to read twenty years after the publication if the book, as most of this area is still awaiting regeneration.

The response to 'Make Bradford British' shows that there are many positive people in the City of Bradford who are proud of the place, but there still seems to be a missing link between translating this into a more positive image nationally.  We all know what makes Bradford a good place, but what's the best way to get the message across?