If people look at this trail of messages then they will see what we are plotting. Anybody from Radstats who wants to join in - feel the grip of the pressgang on your neck. David Byrne Oh - forgot Hull - anybody know Hull? ________________________________ From: BYRNE D.S. Sent: 04 August 2008 11:25 To: 'E-Mailing List for the Urban Theory and Research Study Group - BSA (UTR)' Subject: RE: 'NorthernRegeneration Summit' OK those who are up for this. What I propose is that we meet in Manchester the week before - say on Friday 18th. Anybody on the list can book us a room? We come together as a workshop of Northern Academics with urban expertise and produce our statement on 'Urban Crisis - The state of the Northern Cities'. We then press release this across the North and nationally with specific reference to the Northern Renaissance Shebang - get our retaliation in first as it were. That will start a public stir - public intellectuals actually doing something relevant to most people's lives - won't that make a change? We could do briefings on each of the core Northern Cities viz: Leeds / Bradford - Max and Sara are you up for this. Tyneside and Teesside I will do. Manchester anybody? I have some useful deprivation data. Liverpool likewise?? Sheffield - any ideas. Regards David Byrne ________________________________ From: E-Mailing List for the Urban Theory and Research Study Group - BSA (UTR) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sara Gonzalez Sent: 01 August 2008 14:55 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: 'NorthernRegeneration Summit' Hi all this is a very good idea. An alternative would be to try to get a discounted fee and turn up to the official conference and make our points there...but not sure how much we would get heard. As Max and David have pointed out these are interesting times. In Leeds we have seen the collapse of several commercial and residential projects in the last weeks due to the financial crunch. We are now left with the interesting question of what to do with these spaces: grass them over? And what about all the empty flats? There have been suggestions about councils taking them over to use them for social housing. More generally for a city like Leeds or Manchester politicians and policy makers should reflect on the dangers of basing the economic fortunes of a city on the volatile market (specially finance). Another issue to be addressed is the focus that currently exists in central government and think tanks about centring growth in Manchester-Leeds and hoping that this will trickle down. Is this sustainable? bests, sara Dr Sara Gonzalez School of Geography University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK Tel: +44(0)1133436639 Fax :+44(0)1133433308 http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/s.gonzalez/ Spanish Editor of ACME An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies http://www.acme-journal.org/inicio.html ________________________________ From: E-Mailing List for the Urban Theory and Research Study Group - BSA (UTR) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of BYRNE D.S. Sent: 01 August 2008 09:11 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: 'NorthernRegeneration Summit' I agree with Max's emphasis on the failure but a key point is that failure is more general. Leeds is not a boom town now - saw a story in the Yorkshire Post (not my usual reading but all they had in a cafe on the A1) about a two bedroom flat in one of the new blocks bought 18 months ago for £250K and sold on repossession at auction for £79K. Much more than a straw in the wind there. In other words the global crisis which began with housing speculation and derivatives of that is actually working back into cities and completely buggering up the speculative and speculator led basis of regeneration. Commercial property is collapsing in value just as fast if not faster than housing. So Governance's one trick is bust and where now? Interesting times as they say. Will develop a proposal next week. Regards David Byrne ________________________________ From: E-Mailing List for the Urban Theory and Research Study Group - BSA (UTR) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Farrar, Max Sent: 01 August 2008 07:33 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: 'NorthernRegeneration Summit' dear all I'd be interested in something along the lines suggested by David . . . particularly if it doesn't depend too much on sociological theory. I'm interested in good old-fashioned ideas like: "What about the 10% (or more) who are still out of work in these boom towns?" (Leeds is a good example.) And: "What does 'community cohesion' mean for the structurally excluded?" peace max farrar (Leeds Met) ________________________________ From: E-Mailing List for the Urban Theory and Research Study Group - BSA (UTR) on behalf of Peter Rogers Sent: Fri 01/08/2008 03:15 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: 'NorthernRegeneration Summit' TO: David Great idea! I'm happy to offer any support I can, I can supply you with group logo and set up any advertising or propaganda you might need to circulate in getting people up and running aware or generally. Supply me with any notes and info and I'll put together a package for you; or just as easily send things onto you to do so yourself if you'd rather. We don't have much in the budget for costs but anything I can do to help, I'd be happy :) Hi All Just wondering if members of this group would be up for organizing akind of counterblast to the guff being peddled at the 'NorthernRegeneration Summit' in Manchester in October. See: http://www.haymarketevents.com/conferenceDetail/257/northern-regeneration-summit How about running a simultaneous and publicized event in Manchester onthe theme of 'Urban Collapse - who is responsible and how to act' orsomething on those lines? I would be more than willing to do some organizing and biting theManchester event might even attract some notice. Regards David Byrne ----------------------------------- Dr. Peter Rogers Lecturer in Sociology of Law and Criminology Room 609 - C3B Sociology Department Division of Sociology, Media, Culture and Philosophy Macquarie University. 2109 New South Wales, Australia TEL: 0061 2 9850 6781 WEB PAGE: http://www.soc.mq.edu.au/staff_PRogers.html See also: http://www.misst.mmu.ac.uk <http://www.misst.mmu.ac.uk/> ( http://www.misst.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile.php?id=45 ) To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm ****************************************************** Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your message will go only to the sender of this message. 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