The regeneration game

摘要

A stroll through the centre of most British cities is much prettier now than it was a decade ago. Though output in the north has grown more slowly than elsewhere, its cities have beautified themselves: boules pistes and public sculpture liven up formerly deserted bits of Leeds; the seafront at Hull boasts a futuristic new aquarium. A year of civic jollification has just begun in Liverpool, named "European Capital of Culture 2008" and given a big dollop of European Union cash. This week Sheffield presented plans for a new high-tech "digital square mile", complete with suitably jazzy new buildings.