Opinion & Debate

Richard Scase, Professor of Organisational Change at the University of Kent, believes the Thames Gateway is a disaster waiting to happen.

Poorly sited housing developments will lead to gridlock. New towns will attract a transient population of workers, interested not in the place or any sense of 'community', but in the prospect of low-cost housing and moving on after a couple of years.

Scase doesn't hold back. Listen to his interview with BBC Radio Kent's Sally Dunk [Feb 2007]:

Disastrous effects

"The major objective of the Thames Gateway is to throw up as many houses as it possibly can - with disastrous effects. This is all being done contrary to knowledge we have surrounding issues to do with sustainability, environmental protection and climate and energy conservation...

"The public transport provision is very poor. Government bodies are claiming commitment to sustainable development and to the environment but on the ground the implementation of policies goes against that.

"You end up with housing areas of families and individuals - there's no 'belongingness', no community. They are all there because of the availability of cheap housing - they haven't chosen to move there for the sake of it and they want to move out at the earliest possible opportunity.

"The glossy brochures of the Thames Gateway look idyllic - but the reality is contrary to the PR and the public image created."

Professor Richard Scase is a leading business forecaster - an expert on broad global trends.

As an academic, his research interests range from organisational change and entrepreneurship to the impact of Internet technologies and the restructuring of work and employment worldwide. He holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Organisational Change at the University of Kent and has a visiting professorship at the University of Essex.