ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out the contextual scene in which the new Dreamland project began, considering the implications of this in relation to the following themes: heritage, especially connotations of its meaning and use as a driver for regeneration; visitor experience driven by contemporary desires; authenticity as a sought-after concept, framed in opposition to the 'fake'; constructed architecture and experience-driven landscapes; memory, displacement and preferential narrative; motivation for attraction concepts; and design vision and editorial processes. The distinctiveness of the project may draw the attention of critics, and although the heritage that Dreamland contains is linked to social history and leisure, the process of its creation links it to other heritage sites and visitor attractions across the world, including those that may convey more contentious histories. As a visitor model the new Dreamland offers new life for historic rides, protection for designated heritage features and a visitor attraction which will further support Margate's wider cultural and regeneration strategies.
