The Life and Death of the Shopping City
Public Planning and Private Redevelopment in Britain since 1945

Traces the transformation redevelopment of Britain's cities from post-war reconstruction and modernist urban renewal to the present day.

Alistair Kefford (Author)

9781108799164, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 May 2024

354 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.512 kg

'… a rigorous and urgent work that will be of interest not only to British historians but also to those in urban studies, geography, and policy.' Sarah Mass, Journal of British Studies

How have British cities changed in the years since the Second World War? And what drove this transformation? This innovative new history traces the development of the post-war British city, from the 1940s era of reconstruction, through the rise and fall of modernist urban renewal, up to the present-day crisis of high street retailing and central area economies. Alistair Kefford shows how planners, property developers, councils and retailers worked together to create the modern shopping city, remaking the physical fabric, economy and experience of cities around this retail-driven developmental model. This book also offers a wider social history of mass affluence, showing how cities were transformed to meet the perceived demands of a society of shoppers, and why this effort was felt to be so urgent in an era of urban deindustrialisation. By bringing the story of the shopping city right up to its present-day crisis and collapse, Kefford makes clear how the historical trajectories traced in this book continue powerfully to shape urban Britain today.

Introduction
1. Reconstructing Retail in the 1940s
2. Cities in the Age of Affluence
3. Making the Modern Shopping City
4. The Politics of Partnership
5. Landscapes of Leisure
6. Demand and Discontent in the Shopping City
7. Triumph of the Shopping City
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], British & Irish history [HBJD1]