Fieldwork
Urban regeneration and 2012 resources
What lessons for urban regeneration in East London can be learnt from projects in the past?
In January 2008 a group of Year 11 students from Guildford High School undertook a day of fieldwork in East London. The aim of their visit was to study four different areas, two of which have undergone urban regeneration and two of which will be regenerated in the future.
The four areas were:
- Canary Wharf: An example of 1980s urban regeneration, focusing on commerce and retail.
- ExCeL London: An example of 1990s urban regeneration, focusing on leisure and service industries.
- Canning Town: A deprived residential area with plans for regeneration.
- Stratford: The heart of the ongoing Olympics regeneration project, with additional Stratford City and transport developments also underway.
At each site, they collected social, economic and environmental data, which they subsequently used to write a GCSE case study of urban regeneration in East London. Their case study focused on the positive and negative impacts of regeneration as well as the lessons that can be learnt for regeneration projects in the future. It was presented back in school in the form of an annotated map.
In addition, resources are included for a fifth site, the Coin Street Community Builders Scheme on the South Bank, SE1. This successful social enterprise and development trust scheme is located in the area between the Oxo Tower and the National Theatre in the heart of the South Bank area. It was visited by a group of AS and A2 students attending the RGS-IBG Winter School in February 2008 and is an additional scheme with which to contrast the East London redevelopments. The aim of the AS/A2 trip was to collect information and data to resource a case study of urban regeneration. The students subsequently used the information to write their own exam question and mark scheme, which they shared with others in the group.
The resources in this section are split into separate sites, focusing on the five areas listed. This enables you to make an informed choice about the areas you would like to visit, and to create a tailor-made trip for your group.
Ideas and resources for follow-up activities with both GCSE and AS/A2 students are provided in the final section.
Itineraries for each trip and a site map can be downloaded from the links provided on the right hand side of this page, along with complete booklets from both trips.
Documents to download
Itineraries
Fieldwork booklets