Iconic Shells, Divergent Cores: A Comparative Analysis of Urban Renewal Strategies of Battersea Power Station in London and GES-2 Power Station in Moscow

This thesis investigates whether large‐scale redevelopment projects can drive local economic growth. Grounded in theories of re‐industrialisation, gentrification, and adaptive reuse, the study explores two power stations converted for radically different purposes: Battersea Power Station in London, positioned as a commercially-oriented development featuring luxury housing and offices, and GES‐2 in Moscow – refashioned into a primarily cultural institution. The core hypothesis posits that an economically driven redevelopment, such as Battersea’s, will yield an immediate, measurable economic uplift (e.g., increased new business registrations), whereas a cultural initiative like GES‐2 might not significantly alter local economic indicators in the near term. Adopting a difference‐in‐differences design, the analysis compares “treated” boroughs, Wandsworth (hosting Battersea) and Yakimanka (hosting GES‐2), against selected control areas in each city. Although the London project was expected to show a notable, short‐run improvement relative to control boroughs, the quantitative findings do not strongly support that prediction: the Battersea treatment effect often appears negligible, despite the project’s high‐end market positioning. Likewise, GES‐2, while architecturally significant, produces no clear economic signal, aligning with initial expectations that a cultural‐centric project would yield less tangible near‐term impacts. By juxtaposing these two cases, this thesis offers insights into how adaptive reuse interacts with local economies in varied policy and funding environments. Ultimately, it cautions against assuming straightforward causal links between iconic redevelopment and short‐horizon economic gains, highlighting the need for longer or more holistic evaluations of adaptive reuse outcomes.