ABSTRACT

The subject of this chapter differs from other contributions focusing on recognised urban entities, in that it deals with a place that is a political construction rather than a physical reality. We are also dealing with a place that has yet to undergo its own urban renaissance, and may not necessarily achieve this end as a total project. The Thames Gateway therefore needs to be contextualised rather differently, as a plan rather than as a place. Moreover, there has been, and continues to be, considerable political will to bring the plan into existence and to champion it as an urban renaissance success story.