Liverpool

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Garston is a town that grew because of it’s docks. It’s located in south Liverpool, separate from the city’s other docks, which are all north of the city centre. Garston existed as a village in intself, long before being caught up in Liverpool’s suburban sprawl. Therefore it has always had a very strong local identity, and was famous as one of the strongest community identities in the city.

Similarly to Sheffield and Nowa Huta, Garston has suffered from the decline of industry. The docks still handle a high volume of trade, but due to the modern mechanisation of the process, fewer locals are employed, and so the docks cannot sustain the village. The interdependent relationship between the docks and the village is hence broken, leaving the village dependent on some outer infuence, from beyond the “independent” scenario. Locals are forced to move away.

dock workers’ housing, ‘under the bridge’.

Liverpool is currently the official European Capital of Culture 2008. But while the city centre benefits from this new renaissance and ‘creative buzz’, suburbs like Garston continue to be “EU cat. 1″ areas of depravation. Can ART make a difference to the streets of Garston? Click here to follow the story so far…