Saving Spitalfields : the politics of opposition to redevelopment in East London.
Publisher
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This thesis is an examination of the opposition to the redevelopment of a fruit and
vegetable wholesale market in Spitalfields, east London. I argue that such
opposition has not received the attention it deserves in the literature on urban
redevelopment. The thesis examines the origins and establishment of the
Campaign to Save Spitalfields from the Developers, and examines its discourse in
order to ascertain where the roots of the Campaign's opposition lay. After
outlining the methodology used in the research, the history of the market is
examined within the context of the Spitalfields area. Previous plans for
redevelopment are discussed and attention then focusses on plans put forward in
1986. The role of the City of London Corporation, the government and the
Spitalfields Development Group are explored and stress is laid on the ways in
which these three institutions portrayed redevelopment as a mechanism for inner
city renewal, for the benefit of all interested parties. The Campaign to Save
Spitalfields from the Developers is then studied, looking at its make-up and its
arguments over the impact of redevelopment on Spitalfields. Its origins within the
local Labour Party and the local voluntary sector are traced and the influence of
these bodies on the Campaign in terms of its arguments and ideas on
redevelopment are illustrated. The ways in which the Campaign represented
redevelopment in the area are then discussed. The portrayal of Spitalfields as a
multicultural community area and immigrant area are discussed, and the images the
Campaign constructed of the City of London and of the likely face of Spitalfields
examined. I argue that these representations are important in elucidating a reason
for the Campaign's opposition. I then examine these representations of
Spitalfields in the light of the Campaign's claims to representativeness. I examine
the ways in which the Campaign dealt with the emergence of another group in the
area, and indicate what I understand to be the sources of the Campaign's
discomfort with this group. I conclude by arguing for further study of opposition
movements that emerge to protest against urban redevelopment, and by arguing for
an intensive qualitative research methodology.
Authors
Woodward, RachelCollections
- Theses [3711]