Social Cleansing?

I began my practice as an artist around 2003 as the regeneration process began to be revealed here in Stoke-on-Trent.

During the first few years I was moved to respond creatively to my outrage at the process of pressurising residents into selling their homes for demolition.

As I researched more I moved more to the centre in terms of opinion. When faced with strong arguments from all sides it was difficult to form my own judgement.
In 2007 when I exhibited a full collection of work in response to all this I was very clear that I took the neutral ground as an observer.

More recently however, after five years I am increasingly at odds with the entire housing market renewal programme and there are no longer arguments that can sway me to the centre.

The money that has been brought into the city is phenomenal and could have made such an impact. We could have shown that regeneration can really work for the good of the existing communities as well as attracting more people to the live here. Unlike the cities of Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool for example where regeneration has managed to highlight the divide between rich and poor, creating central areas of affluence that are deemed a success, whilst leaving other areas to fall further and further into extreme deprivation.
The original Prescott statement of decent homes for all could have really worked if we'd focussed on refurbishment, building more social housing and on the slow demolition of outdated housing stock. One or two streets at a time perhaps, slowly moving residents into other temporary accomodation while a home of equal value was built for them, ensuring no financial loss for the homeowners. Yes this would've been a slower, possibly more arduous task and possibly more costly but very possibly more successful than letting developers set the agenda.

The demolition is too far down the line to be reversed so I will watch with interest at what happens next. Maybe I'll be proved wrong and I hope for my children's sake I am.
To see the effect of housing market renewal on ordinary people have a look at this. I can't believe anyone after seeing this could possibly argue that mass demolition is an ethical way to 'transform a city'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkKptVrlfvQ