Real Estate & Planning Research Seminar by Dr. Stefania Fiorentino, University of Cambridge "Title: The Regeneration of left-behind places: the case of coastal towns in England."

If you are interested in attending this Seminar please contact our Department School Office at repschooloffice@reading.ac.uk

Abstract:

Many coastal towns in England face a unique set of overlapping challenges: a longstanding socio-economic stagnation and environmental threats from the physical location. The consequences of de-industrialisation or the decline of seaside resorts and the registered failures in public policies recall other left-behind geographies. We look at a selection of case studies, apparently dealing with the decline of traditional coastal economic activities, but really affected by a decoupling of their socio-economic profile from their coastal specificity. Our examples of coastal towns demonstrate that regeneration strategies in left-behind areas require strong regional coordination and a locally differentiated place-based approach. Innovation in planning tools and policies for local regeneration is also needed to achieve meaningful change in these “peripheral” contexts. Central to the latter discussion is the need to further consider spatial imaginaries and the mechanism behind the formulation of local identities.

Bio: Dr Stefania Fiorentino is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge (Department of Land Economy), a Fellow of Downing College (Cambridge), and an Honorary Lecturer at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London (UCL). Her research interest and expertise combine urban planning and economic geography for more inclusive and resilient local economic development policies and regeneration strategies. Her main research projects to date include work on three main research streams: i) economic clustering, the theory of agglomeration and urban densification policies, ii) the future of workspaces, iii) left-behind places, regional inequalities and the regeneration of town centres with a specific focus on coastal areas.