Battersea offers lessons in regeneration

FROM OUTSIDE, the towers rise like steeples; inside, the ceiling soars. In the 1930s one wing was decorated with Italian marble. Yet this former power station had lain derelict since 1983, surrounded by post-industrial wasteland. Now workers are swarming around it. From the roof more development is visible. Two new rail stations open on September 20th.

It all sounds like “levelling up”, as touted by the prime minister, Boris Johnson. But this is Battersea, an area of London south of the river, not the northern “red wall” where voters abandoned Labour to sweep Mr Johnson to victory in 2019, and which inspired his as-yet vague promises to spread southern prosperity farther afield. Nine Elms, as the new district is called, and the extension of the Northern line, are Mr Johnson’s most concrete legacy from his stint as London’s mayor between 2008 and 2016. It will eventually provide the capital with 20,000 new homes.

Criticism has been fierce. Most of the housing is high-end, and much has been bought by absentee foreigners. Some consists of crowded, ugly apartment blocks. Yet London desperately needs more housing, and many previous efforts to provide it in volume have failed. This scheme’s success offers lessons for regeneration both in the capital and beyond, including the importance of infrastructure, devolved regulatory...