Norwich – The Norwich Plan for Downtown Restoration

Norwich Plan for Downtown Restoration (in .pdf format)

Back in the late 1950s, Magdalen Street in Norwich saw a piece of urban renewal that became known throughout the world. The above PDF document (courtesy of archive.org) is a short book of how that came about, with the publishing element of the project being backed by Norwich Union.

It was quite an inspired project which received the support of nearly all the property owners along Magdalen Street. The street was tidied up in terms of signage and clutter, with shopkeepers and property owners smartening up their buildings as well. The Civic Trust did a fine job, also ensuring that historic buildings were protected and that people became proud of their local area. A new park was formed, buildings were painted and thought was given to the placement of noticeboards and electricity boxes.

The document above was issued to inspire and encourage cities around the world to undertake similar projects. It showed that the Norwich project hadn’t cost that much money, but had seen many benefits. The book concluded that “this can make a community a better place in which to live and work”.

Incidentally, the foot-note to this was that just over ten years later, Norwich City Council built a flyover through the middle of the project, knocked down several of the buildings and destroyed the character of Magdalen Street. The chaos that they caused is still problematic today, as no-one is quite sure what to do with Anglia Square. It wouldn’t perhaps be a bad idea for the council to look back at this project at what can be achieved when the community works together on a scheme.