Seaside town regeneration and the interconnections between the physical environment, key agencies and middle-life migration

Abstract

English seaside resorts’ fortunes have changed over the past half a century, and as a consequence, many of the towns’ physical environments and inhabitants have altered. Many grew in population through in-migration of the retired, changing the socio-economic and cultural structures. Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex is among seaside towns that have undergone such changes, fuelled by exogenous forces but also influenced by key agencies that have been a catalyst for altering the physical environment. The research adopts a Lamarckian conceptual and theoretical perspective of socio-economic and cultural evolution that focuses on the influence of the physical environment, key agency actions and middle-life migration. The paper analyses the effect of these changes and the role key agencies have played that influence socio-economic change and evolution and are a key component, influencing the cultural ‘circonstances’. The paper argues that the in-migration of ‘middle-lifers’, those approaching or entering retirement, has had a profound effect on Bexhill-on-Sea. The town attracted middle-life migrants based on personal experiences and from images and labels that were attached such as ‘Costa Geriatrica’. The research challenges conventional retirement migration theories identifying a new form of clustering of like-minded people seeking ‘lifestyle-affirming’ migration. Their choice of destination was constructed on ‘gut-feel’ from fleeting visits and perceived images that appealed to those middle-lifers who felt that they would ‘fit-in’ with the town's culture.

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