Redevelopment in the 20th century
On the horizon are the tower blocks from the 1960s and 1970s and the final phase of the expansion of suburban Coventry. Places such as Allesley Park, with its modern semi-detached houses, also date from the post-war period.
'... Coventry's post-war experience is shared by many other towns and cities.'
Yet the view from Broadgate has also been one of continuous change since the war. Large parts of the 1960s precincts have been demolished to make way for more recent shopping centres, while those factories which were still centrally located in the 1980s, such as the Alvis works, have now moved out beyond the edges of the city and been replaced with retail parks.
Although the damage done by the Luftwaffe in 1940 was considerable, Coventry's post-war experience is shared by many other towns and cities. As with most towns and cities, the arrival of the motor vehicle has meant that narrow streets built in the medieval or early modern periods were simply inadequate to cope with ever increasing levels of traffic. This has led to the replanning of city centre road systems to cope with this traffic, and in many cases, the building of ring-roads and bypasses.
Published: 2005-03-07
