ABSTRACT
What happened to the post-war built environment in Britain, as elsewhere in the developed world, especially between the late 1950s and early 1970s, continues to affect the daily lives of many people directly and indirectly – in fact most of those who live in or visit those towns and cities that were rebuilt. This chapter briefly discusses the critiques of the well-meaning, patrician values and assumptions of the newly created welfare state and a belief in the loftier virtues of male-dominated planning (whether this was actually undertaken by planners, architects, surveyors or engineers) before outlining the how some of prominent post-war developments in Birmingham and Coventry have been demolished and replaced to make way for an urban renaissance, where visually striking post-industrial spaces dedicated to office, commercial and retail uses are designed to attract investors, tourists and consumers.
