The complex regeneration of post-war modernism: London’s Southbank Centre’s Masterplan

Abstract

The post-war modernism heritage is being reassessed, revalued and somehow successfully rehabilitated, even though there are still many people that refuse to accept this analysis. What is striking in this whole process is that these assessments are only centred on the architectural objects that make up these projects. No attention is given to the urban design, namely the public spaces of these modernist cityscapes, nor do the assessments take into account the user’s experience or the designer’s aims. This article seeks to address this knowledge gap. To do so, it offers a multilayered assessment of the urban design vis-a-vis the designer's aims, user’s experience and heritage challenges involved in the contested masterplan of urban regeneration of the Southbank Centre in London. Given its iconic status and long history of conservation and regeneration attempts, the Southbank Centre Masterplan provides a productive case to assess different design-led regeneration approaches to reflect on its achievements and failures, and, by doing so, it offers new lessons for guiding and assessing future urban design practices in complex post-war heritage contexts.