ABSTRACT
Critical analysis of the former saleyards and abattoirs of Newmarket in Melbourne, Australia, enables us to explore issues of cultural heritage as incorporated into the urban regeneration schemes of Lynch’s Bridge and Kensington Banks (LB/KB). We examine the projects as politically and economically driven practices that attempt to capitalize on the cultural heritage of the site. We also highlight how the present ‘smudges’ time, blurring distinctions between past, present and future and we emphasize the generative potential of cultural heritage, questioning not simply what it is, but what it can do. The Deleuzean concept of assemblage is of value here as its inherent relationality aids understanding of power-plays, inclusions and exclusions.
We offer an overview of urban regeneration in Australia before outlining our case example. Our analysis examines perceived successes and shortcomings of the schemes, both in terms of urban regeneration – adapting Dixon et al.’s (2011) Critical Success Factors – and with regard to the integration of regeneration and cultural heritage. We suggest that while LB/KB may be regarded as an international benchmark for ‘successful’ urban regeneration, integration of cultural heritage into regeneration schemes could build on the notion that heritage significance lies in ‘more than just the fabric of a place’ (Australia ICOMOS 2000: 22), generating affective links between the past, the present and the future, bringing cultural heritage immanently into the everyday of regenerated areas.
