Talkin’ about regeneration

Regenerate

Tate Modern has led a regeneration of the local area around the gallery, and inspired many of its visitors to shake up their own lives

Around 3,000 people lived on Bankside before Tate Modern arrived. In the decade since it opened, the number of local residents has doubled to 6,000. There are 50,000 people now working in the area and over five million people travel from all over the world to the most successful modern art gallery in the world.

Today, Tate Modern is one of 22 cultural organisations on the South Bank – the largest concentration of publicly-funded arts organisations anywhere in the world, a “cultural quarter” whose 13 million visitors contribute around £133 million to the area every year. Tate Modern has also developed a thriving relationship with the local communities around Bankside.

“Part of our DNA is to ensure we work locally as well as nationally,” explains Donald Hyslop, Tate Modern director of regeneration and community partnerships.

That’s why, when local residents pointed out the lack of local cinema facilities, the gallery offered the use of its auditorium and the community film club was born.

“The Tate is really accessible to everyone: everything is so close, it makes you feel you’re part of it”

Free to registered local residents, it’s now regularly used by around 1,600 locals who drive the programming themselves.

In addition, locals can grow their own produce in the Tate Community Garden or simply relax and enjoy the enclosed space by the busy river walkway, while bees from the rooftop hives pollinate the flowers and make the Tate Modern honey now on sale in the shop.

did you know?

• Tate Modern has about 4.7 million visitors per year
• The galleries are housed in the former Bankside power station, which closed in 1981
• The Turbine Hall is five storeys tall with 3,400 square metres of floorspace