The Sheffield Development Corporation (SDC) was created in 1988 to oversee the

urban regeneration Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

of the Lower Don Valley area of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

History

The area had been the major industrial region of Sheffield but had gone into decline since the 1960s. Huge parts of it were derelict and the city as a whole was suffering from large unemployment. The Corporation was established in 1988 and, in common with other development corporations, it was the planning authority for the area during its existence. It was wound down in 1997 with development operations ceasing on 1 April 1997 and dissolved on 1 July 1997.

Key economic indicators

During its existence it invested £101 million of government money and £7.5 million from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

. This was supported by £680 million of private investment. It reclaimed 600 acres (2.4 km²) of land and created over 5 million square feet (460,000 m²) of commercial floor space. It also created 18,000 new jobs. It also regenerated the local landscape with 160,000 trees and shrubs and renovated the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.

Developments

The most famous development during its time was Meadowhall Centre, which was Europe's largest

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes ...

when it was built in 1991. It also brought the

Abbey National The Abbey National Building Society was formed in 1944 by the merger of the Abbey Road and the National building societies. It was the first building society in the United Kingdom to demutualise, doing so in July 1989. The bank expanded throu ...

share exchange centre to the area along with several call centres.

Sheffield City Airport Sheffield City Airport was a small airport in Sheffield; it is now closed. It was in the Tinsley Park area of the city, near the M1 motorway and Sheffield Parkway, and opened in 1997. The airport's CAA licence was withdrawn on 21 April 2008 ...

was also built during this time but is now facing an uncertain future since the end of chartered flights and the construction of Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield airport. The Victoria Quays at the end of the Don Valley Navigation also received a large investment. Although largely built in the region the SDC had no involvement with the World Student Games development. There was also due to be a four lane link road from junction 34 of the M1 at Meadowhall and the city centre. This was abandoned for a more modest improvement of the local roads when the early 1990s recession struck. In the end a total of of road was improved.

Criticism

In 1989 there was accusations that the chairman was using his authority for personal financial gain. Although he was never found to be doing anything improper or asked to step down, he did have business interests within the region. He was also a non-executive chairman of a company who invested in regeneration projects in Sheffield.

After the SDC

The land continued to be developed after the dissolution of the SDC. A further 6,000 jobs were already due to be created and £124 million was pledged to redevelopment of Sheffield by the government over the next 7 years. Since 1997 the lower Don Valley has also seen further investment due to its links. Valley Centertainment, including one of the country's largest cinema complexes, has also been built since 1997. In May 2005 Sheffield City Council announced a £1 billion investment scheme for the

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in t ...

area taking 20 years to complete.Yorkshire Today article
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References