Study Tours
The afternoon of the 4th of September offers an opportunity to get to know Sheffield and its urban transformations by joining one of the Conference study tours. Simply include your chosen tour as part of your conference registration:
1. Creating a post-industrial future? The Cultural Industries Quarter
This walking tour will explore the Cultural Industries Quarter, a district in Sheffield where the city has sought to replace declining traditional industries with a new economy based on creativity, including music, art, film and performance. Part of Sheffield City Council’s economic policy response to the stark decline of manufacturing in the 1970s, the walk will explore the successes and continued challenges for economic regeneration in the city.
2. City of Gold and Steel: place-making and city centre regeneration
This walking tour will explore parts of the ‘gold’ and ‘steel’ routes, paths through Sheffield City Centre that have been the focus of sustained physical regeneration and urban design interventions since the 1990s. The tour will explore how the city centre has sought to respond to changing uses and economic fortunes.
3. Neighbourhood Planning for an area in transition: Kelham Island and Neepsend
Located to the north of the city centre, Kelham Island was one of the earliest industrial areas in the city. Now a conservation area, it has become an increasingly dynamic neighbourhood, home to a growing residential community served by trendy pubs and restaurants. These newer uses jostle with remaining industry, local breweries and the recording studios where the Arctic Monkeys recorded their first album. This walking tour will consider the transformations affecting the area and how local residents are seeking to steer its future by producing a neighbourhood plan.
4. Municipal Dreaming: Revisiting Sheffield’s council housing heritage
Throughout the 20th century, municipal leaders in Sheffield proactively sought improvements to housing and living conditions for the working classes. Ambitious housing developments gave the city a reputation for innovation in design and development. This bus tour will visit key examples of Sheffield’s council housing heritage, considering its legacies and the lessons that can be learned for the future.
