Throughout the 1970s and the early 1980s I spent a large amount of my life in Newcastle. Although I didn’t live in the city, or town as we know it, I went to school there from 1971 to 1978 and the university from 1978. At the back end of the decade I did live in a number of student flats, many barely better than slums. I was going to say that that isn’t really a part of the story, yet in a way it is.
At the time, Newcastle was a dirty, gritty and run down place, at least in my memory. The 70s though was a period of enormous change that ripped the city apart for better or for worse. A new central motorway allowed traffic to flow northwards from the Tyne Bridge past the centre of the city. At the same time, huge swathes of the city centre were pulled down to be replaced by the Eldon Square Shopping Centre. On opening, it was the largest city-centre shopping centre in the UK. Loved by some and hated by others (described as ‘the greatest single example of architectural vandalism in Britain since the war) it was certainly transformative.
It was a brave new world, where retail was the new religion, the new democracy and the new leisure pursuit at the same time. Things are no longer the same with many high street closures and footfall giving way to home delivery.
Places such as Eldon Square have had to change. Food has become much more important than fashion with a whole quarter set aside to (mostly) chain restaurants. Yet change is a constant and times continue to move on. People can only eat so much and even the restaurant space is not fully occupied.
In an exciting move, one of the former restaurant spaces in the Grey quarter is being transformed into a new 5G immersive lab, which ‘aims to boost digital skills, productivity and innovation across the North of Tyne region through providing businesses with direct access to a 5G Standalone test bed and immersive technologies like Virtual Reality. The lab will be a versatile workspace of co-working areas, meeting rooms and event spaces.’
It is an exciting move and another opportunity for the region to excel in emerging technologies. Although not open yet, I had the chance to visit the work in progress last week and look forward to holding our final Innovation Centre workshop, at least for this round, in the new premises.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 