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

urban regeneration Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

of the Lower Don Valley area of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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. The most significant development during its time was the

Meadowhall Centre Meadowhall is an indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It lies north-east of Sheffield city centre, and from Rotherham town centre. It is the largest shopping centre in Yorkshire, and currently the twelfth-largest in ...

, which was Europe's largest

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

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 Demutualisation, demutualise, doing so in July 1989. The ba ...

call centre to the area along with several call centres.

Sheffield City Airport Sheffield City Airport was a small international 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 ...

was also built during this time but proceeded to close in 2008. The

Victoria Quays Victoria Quays (formerly Sheffield Canal Basin) is a large canal basin in Sheffield, England. It was constructed 1816–1819 as the terminus of the Sheffield Canal (now part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation) and includes the former ...

at the end of the Don Valley Navigation also received a large investment. There was also due to be a four lane link road from junction 34 of the M1 at Meadowhall to 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. 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 union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. This was supported by £680 million of private investment. It reclaimed of land and created over 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 The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways ( canals and canalised rivers) in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of and has 27 lo ...

. 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. It was wound down in 1997 with development operations ceasing on 1 April 1997 and dissolved on 1 July 1997. 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 Valley Centertainment is a leisure and entertainment complex in the Don Valley in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It was built on land previously occupied by steel mills which also includes what is now Meadowhall shopping centre and t ...

, 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 ...

area taking 20 years to complete.

References

{{reflist
Economy of Sheffield Organizations established in 1988 Organizations disestablished in 1997 Organisations based in Sheffield Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Development Corporations of the United Kingdom

History

See also

References