An uncritical study of the regeneration of Leeds is peppered with unintended irony, says Richard Waite

摘要

'Daddy, what was it like before the credit crunch?' 'Son, read Leeds: Shaping the City. Its pages contain the worst indulgences of short-sighted, boom-fuelled backslapping of 2007/2008 - a book bankrolled by pre-recession developers, high on years of untroubled success.'rnThe sleeve notes claim Martin Wainwright's book (produced by RIBA Publishing and Leeds City Council) is an 'authoritative and objective' assessment of the redevelopment and regeneration of Leeds. In essence, it is little more than a 220-page brochure, cataloguing a hotchpotch of schemes in the city over the last 15 years, combined with a potted history of where it all began and where it's heading.