Revisualising the City Conference

Based on the concept of non-place coined by the French anthropologist Marc Auge, this paper explores the Elephant and Castle area at pivotal moment in its history. Home to the very first shopping mall to open in the UK in 1965, and famous for being a transport hub in the city, fifty years on the area has become run-down, though full of character. The mall and many of the local council estates that were built in the 50s, 60s and 70s have all been earmarked for demolition, development and regeneration.

Situated in South East London, the Elephant and Castle was always known as a working-class area, though in its heyday in the 1920s it was known as the Piccadilly of South London, given it had music halls and attractive pubs and bars.
Over time, and to a large part due to the town planning of the 1970s over-use of roundabouts, the area declined as it become dominated by cars and underpasses for pedestrians.

It's central location has once again tipped the area to be a magnet for property developers, but this time largely from the private sector. This conference paper showcases the area as it stands in 2012 with the vibrant Columbian community and the many local traders who run the local market outside the shopping mall selling fruit and vegetables as well as clothes and other consumables. The paper also discusses the 'decanting' process Lambeth Council plans to trigger to rehouse the residents of the Hey Gate Estate, one of the largest and oldest council blocks ever built in the UK. Some of the residents did not wish to move into newer accommodation as their flats had been their home for over fifty years.

Using Auge's concept of place and non-place, the paper explores how in the bid to make a place better and regenerated, there lies the risk of making it a non-place in the process that looks like everywhere else where property developers have been given permission to build luxury tower blocks that are identical to other luxury tower blocks in the city. The tension between the aim of regenerating an area and the reality of gentrification are discussed.

From 2011, the Elephant and Castle skyline now has changed beyond recognition. Since 2016, most of the local council estate residents were moved with compulsory purchase orders and the area's population has changed completely.