Blackpool Reverie

Abstract

This article examines the social and cultural impacts of urban regeneration and gentrification in Blackpool through a practice-led research approach grounded in narrative inquiry and visual analysis. Drawing on graphic design, typographic design, photography, and moving image, the study explores how working-class identity and cultural presence are reshaped or erased within processes of redevelopment. The research adopts the concept of palimpsest as a conceptual framework through which the city is read as a layered and contested space where historical traces coexist with contemporary economic and spatial interventions. Rather than positioning creative outputs as illustrative, the study frames design practice as an analytical method capable of articulating lived experience and social change. Typeface design functions as a form of visual narrative encoding the emotional and cultural conditions of place while photographic and moving image works document spatial transformation and absence. Through this interdisciplinary methodology, the research contributes to discussions on gentrification by foregrounding the experiential and affective dimensions often overlooked in policy-driven regeneration discourse. The article argues that artistic practice can play a critical role in making visible the cultural consequences of urban change and offers insights into how creative methodologies may inform more inclusive and socially responsive regeneration strategies.