'We started filming thinking, like everyone else, that the bid would almost certainly fail,' elaborates Stanley, 'and that we were celebrating a neglected place, a part of east London that had somehow missed out on investment and redevelopment every time, that had been overlooked since Victorian times.
During this time redevelopment took place in the medieval city nucleus, buildings were reconstructed, boulevards, avenues, and parks were laid out, and many of the city's present-day schools, museums, libraries, and hospitals were built.
Given the situation that residential redevelopment in a time of globalization has profoundly reshaped the social order of urban landscapes where gentrified neighborhoods assemble "established elite enclaves", members of the professional middle-class are attracted by the image of elite life and thus willing to pay for the symbolic value of those elite enclaves which they can afford.
After a series of previous failures on this project, this marks the first time redevelopment has gone past ground breaking to the construction phase.
No one showed any serious interest in the cultural redevelopment during this time, so nobody bothered trying to evict the squatters.
Jo Negrini, the council's executive director of redevelopment, jokingly said "third time lucky" in reference to previous failed masterplans – but insisted that this time the regeneration is for real.
Other cities are facing similar tax revenue shortfalls, restricting the financing for downtown redevelopment for the first time since the early 1990's.
They said that by the time the redevelopment program was closed in 2009, the agency had squandered millions of dollars in grants, loans, contracts and subcontracts, leaving behind a few high-rise condominium buildings, a neighborhood of empty storefronts and lingering resentments.
Thousands of people from outside the area regularly attend games of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League in the 18,500-seat Nationwide Arena, which was the catalyst for this redevelopment, and they spend time before and after the hockey games and other events in 14 restaurants and bars in the district.
But lately, Charm City's convenient location -- and its reasonably-priced real estate -- are speeding things up around here; early (and epic for their time) urban redevelopment projects along the Inner Harbor and at Camden Yards are now joined by sparkling new towers, repurposed industrial complexes, luxury condominiums and more ways to enjoy the waterfront.
