Who’s Waterfront? : A Study of Liverpool’s Waterfront Regeneration

Abstract

The city of Liverpool has experienced extensive redevelopment to its waterfront over recent decades as derelict land is being transformed into mix use developments. Peel Holdings’ ‘Liverpool Waters’ is an ambitious, large scale plan that hopes to continue the ongoing waterfront developments, by creating 17,000 jobs and 23,000 apartments.

The aim of this research is to get a sense of how the public feel about this grand plan including the various issues that surround urban development. Along with this, the respondent’s opinion on Liverpool’s waterfront development as a whole was asked. While these issues could be apparent in many developments nationwide, the conflict between UNESCO and Peel Holdings over issues of heritage is unique to this development and it was for this reason that it was investigated. Research was conducted through the use of questionnaires.

The study found that the vast majority of respondents were in favour of the Liverpool Waters scheme, as well as Liverpool’s waterfront development as a whole. Mostly those who did were not in favour were sceptical as opposed to being outright against the developments. The issues of heritage were considerably more contentious than the other questions with strong opinions for both sides of the argument. While public opinion is generally in favour, citing the economic affects of the scheme as the main benefit, the public showed that the UNESCO dispute is by far the most controversial issues on the scheme, and this dispute is set to continue.