The Merseyside Development Corporation was a central government-appointed

Development Corporation Development corporations or development firms are organizations established by governments in several countries for the purpose of urban development. They often are responsible for the development of new suburban areas or the redevelopment of exi ...

set up in 1981 by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's government to regenerate the

Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

docks of

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle ...

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

and

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; Historic counties of England, historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the R ...

. It was one of two Development Corporations to be set up in 1981, the other being the

London Docklands Development Corporation The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its seventeen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an a ...

, which also focused on disused docklands. The first Chief Executive was Basil Bean, who had previously been general manager of the Northampton Development Corporation. Actitivies undertaken by the Corporation include the Liverpool

International Garden Festival The International Garden Festival was a National Garden Festival, garden festival recognised by the AIPH, International Association of Horticultural producers (AIPH) and the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which was held in Liverp ...

in 1984, and the redevelopment of the Albert Dock complex, which included the opening of

Tate Liverpool Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corpo ...

. During its lifetime 7.6m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 486 housing units were built. Around 22,155 new jobs were created and some £698m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa of derelict land was reclaimed and of new road and footpaths put in place. The Corporation was wound up in 1998.

References

{{Authority control Liverpool Organizations established in 1981 Organizations disestablished in 1998 Organisations based in Merseyside Economy of Merseyside Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Development Corporations of the United Kingdom