ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Southport's ambivalent relationship with Pleasureland by examining the early growth of the amusement park, its establishment as a local landmark and the circumstances of its sudden closure in 2006. While many in the town were deeply saddened at the closure of the amusement park, the local authority regarded this as an opportunity to redevelop the site in accordance with a broader project to rebrand Southport as a refined and sophisticated 'Classic Resort'. Southport is one of England's earliest coastal resorts, having started to grow in the late eighteenth century. From the outset, the resort was intended to be a select place for the affluent to live, take holidays and retire to. The new Pleasureland site indicates the continued involvement of the local authority in the planning of Southport's development in a way that was unlike many other resorts. In particular, the influence of modernist urban planning particularly 183the application of land use zoning is apparent.
