25th May 2006
Survey Puts Leicester Top of Regeneration League

Leicester leads the way on regeneration in the Midlands, a new survey shows.

The report puts Leicester, England’s tenth largest city, ahead of the comparable centres of Nottingham, Derby, Coventry and Wolverhampton for major projects currently underway.

The study measured the number of cranes across the skyline in each place.

Leicester led with ten cranes followed by Nottingham with nine, Derby and Coventry with four each and Wolverhampton with none.

Crane surveys are accepted by the property industry as an independent measure of major construction taking place.

The report provides a snapshot of regeneration in “second tier” cities. The five studied cities range between 12 and 20 in the league table of the UK’s most populous and between nine and 16 in England.

The survey also compared Leicester’s numbers against latest statistics for the much bigger city of Birmingham, the UK’s second largest. Leicester had more cranes per square mile (one for every 2.8 square miles compared with 4.4 in Birmingham) and per head of population (one for every 28,000 people compared with 39,000 in Birmingham).

Leicester, the largest city in the East Midlands, is gaining a reputation for accelerating importance as a centre for regeneration.

Leicester Regeneration Company estimates that projects with an economic value of £3 billion are currently underway or planned in central Leicester.

• Construction has begun to double the size of The Shires shopping centre plus Leicester City Council’s £19 million Streets and Spaces enhancement is also underway.

• Work is in progress on the first phase of a 4,000-job New Business Quarter near the railway station.

• The first apartments in the Waterside redevelopment are completed.

• Sites are cleared for a new Science and Innovation Park alongside the National Space Centre.

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