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We are supposed to be in the middle of the worst recession in our generation's memory. A recession that started with a crash in the real estate market two years ago. One would not expect to see many new construction sites under such circumstances. And yet in some places, Hackney among them, the opposite seems to be the case. Two new residential developments and a large council service centre has been recently completed within five minutes walk from where I live. 

Two more are in progress and planning permission for another two has been granted. There is a tension between those pockets of feverish redevelopment and the surrounding areas. Whatever increase in the living standard the new-builds are bringing, doesn't affect much outside of them. People don't live by  averages. Such is the harsh reality of gentrification. With my project I want to document the changes in the urban fabric brought by redevelopment.

I want to visit and photograph construction sites over the course of their life from the foundations to the completed building. Wherever possible I want to document the buildings demolished before the new development starts. Urban development is a necessary process. It's a different question altogether whether it's necessary for it to be done in the way it is right now.  As much as a documentation of the redevelopment, I want this project to be a sort of research into it. At this early stage I am not able to critically comment on the process of redevelopment. I hope that the work on the project will deepen my understanding and will allow me to make such a critical comment.