Economic challenges and cultural regeneration in four South East coastal towns

Culture, HE and the renewal of the four coastal towns

The research placed the four SECTs in the context of the post-war decline of many coastal towns and the regeneration strategies that have been used in attempting to reverse decline. We recognised the distinctiveness of individual coastal towns, each with its unique geography and history set within a particular locality and sub-region. Many coastal towns see cultural activity as an integral part of their approach to regeneration, and with universities have realised the role of higher education in transforming local prospects. There is no single model shared between the four towns, in terms of exploiting the optimum benefits from connecting regeneration, culture and HE.

There are significant differences in the way in which culture and regeneration has been approached in each of the four places.

• In Margate there is a strong arts and cultural emphasis in the regeneration programme and a focus on major investment projects with Turner Contemporary art gallery and the Dreamland amusement park.
• There is a broadly based arts, cultural and education approach to regeneration in Folkestone driven by events, festivals and fixed-term projects to develop local capacity, aspiration and new cultural markets, and delivered by an autonomous social enterprise body.
• In Bognor Regis, large-scale investment, with commercial leisure including substantial new investment in the Butlins resort, is building on programme delivery in partnership with the University of Chichester.
• Regeneration in Portsmouth has an established array of naval, maritime and related heritage attractions, and visitor and retail destinations with an established and expanding relationship with the University of Portsmouth and a range of mature cultural producers.

The research identified important positive synergies between cultural regeneration programmes and HE initiatives in coastal towns that hitherto have been often unacknowledged in strategic and policy terms. The clearest differences are in the way in which the contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) have been planned, and/or in which the roles of the individual universities have been engaged as partners.

• HEIs are not involved yet in Margate as an active regeneration partner, nor with a significant physical presence in the town.
• In Folkestone, HEIs are part of a major education transformation, and help with intensifying the regeneration impact of the creative quarter.
• In Bognor Regis, HEI activity is being rolled out through programmes, but planned investment is not yet in place to integrate higher education in town centre/cultural quarter regeneration.
• Long-term higher education presence in the Portsmouth has enabled the HEI to become a substantial regeneration partner, developing solid relationships and joint projects with cultural partners, and building the capacity and sustainability of the local cultural and creative sector.

We believe that the four SECTs contribute in different and interesting ways to the wider pattern of coastal regeneration practice. However, the value derived from the ways in which they are engaging culture and education in regeneration is under threat from new priorities generated by the economic crisis and imminent and expected constraints in public and private spending. These are challenges both to the four towns in the study and the wider coastal regeneration community.