Leeds: A tale of two cities

As the UK's first urban summit debates the regeneration of our inner cities, John Thorne reflects on the successful transformation of Leeds from "grim" northern town to vibrant metropolis. "More Harvey Nicks than flat caps".

That could perhaps be the unofficial slogan of those involved in promoting the new image of the city of Leeds.

It is the subtle use of the old heavy manufacturing tradition and the modern shopping mecca profile which has helped to give the West Yorkshire metropolis a worthy slot in the league of successful provincial communities.

The regeneration has transformed Leeds, making it a new destination, even for returning Yorkshire natives.

They might recognise the 19th century architectural landmarks like the town hall, but will be baffled by the fresh cosmopolitan openness of a place that might have once justified the phrase "It's grim up north".

Shopping

The statistics of the rebirth are impressive. Leeds is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK.

It's the leading centre for financial and legal services outside London.

The old insurance company headquarters in the city centre have been converted into hotels and shopping arcades.

But the call centre operations have remained in town, in the industrial parks a little further out.

And the arrival of the Harvey Nichols store, its first expansion outside London, helped confirm Leeds as one of the top three shopping destinations in the country.

But it wasn't the first fading northern city to realise that work and shopping had to be combined with a profusion of attractive new restaurants and cafes and a clutter of modern city centre flats and converted apartments.

These buildings are heaped along the Leeds to Liverpool canal in a district once spurned as "too downtown and too down-trodden".

Seven hundred thousand pounds will buy you a riverside penthouse with terrace and two parking spaces.

£200,000 will get you a two-bedroomed flat with a balcony and river view.

'Worries remain'

But the quick profit in this rush of private sector investment in city centre housing may now have peaked.

The city council acknowledges "the difficult issues" to be faced over the next few years.

And others accuse the city of being smug, of resting on its regenerated laurels and falsely arguing that the city of Leeds can do without a Lowry Gallery, a Tate North or the Baltic Exchange, because it captured the only Harvey Nichols franchise in the north of England.

The benefits of the Leeds rebirth haven't always percolated right through the community. Poor housing, unemployment and bad health are still significant worries.

The gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" are still apparent even if regeneration, Leeds-style, is heralded as a success.