ABSTRACT

The infamous Millennium Dome was the flagship in the redevelopment of a derelict brownfield site in southeast London, the Greenwich Peninsula. It was only in 1995 that the Millennium Commission began the work of selecting a site for their proposed millennium celebrations. The final choice was between extending the existing site at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, or the redevelopment of a 294-acre derelict brownfield site at Greenwich. The decision went in favour of Greenwich on the basis of the connection with Greenwich Mean Time, the belief that London would be able to attract bigger international coverage and visitors, and ‘because it had the potential for a spectacular development which would at the same time regenerate a deprived area’ (Smith and Jenner, 1998: 86). There was a clear political influence in the decision to use the millennium festival as a catalyst for the rejuvenation of this deprived area; as stated by Greenwich MP Nick Raynsford: ‘Picking Greenwich had enormous advantages. There was a huge regeneration potential for a very depressed part of London in an area of serious industrial decline and high unemployment’ (quoted in Irvine, 1999: 48).