Eric Sorensen (civil servant)

Eric Kenneth Sorensen is an English former civil servant. He was Chief Executive of the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) from 1991 until 1997, where he was responsible for regenerating London’s Docklands and delivering the Canary Wharf financial district.

Career

Early career

Sorensen began his career as a civil servant, working as an Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment before heading its Inner Cities Directorate.[1]

London Docklands Development Corporation

He was appointed Chief Executive of the LDDC in February 1991,[2] succeeding Reg Ward and Michael Honey.[3][4] His brief was to fund infrastructure investments and finalise land sales whilst rebuilding damaged relationships with local communities and winding up the development corporation.[5][6][7] A friend of Peter Hall, who is often credited with formulating the Urban Enterprise Zone concept, Sorensen described the Docklands redevelopment as “the showcase for Thatcherism”.[8]

Later career

Sorensen left the LDDC in March 1997 and was later Chief Executive of the Millennium Commission, distributing lottery grants.[9] He was then Chief Executive of the Thames Gateway Partnership and London Development Partnership,[10] the latter of which advised the first elected Mayor of London (Ken Livingstone) in 2000 on strategic priorities for London in preparation for a new London Development Agency (a Regional Development Agency for London).[11]

Retirement

Sorensen supports a range of charitable causes. He is a Non-Executive Director of Homerton Hospital, a Governor at the Museum Of London, a member of Islington Council's Standards Committee, and Chair of the Royal Docks Charitable Trust, which supports community groups in the locality. His is also a Trustee of the London Society.

References
  1. Deakin, N., & Edwards, J., The Enterprise Culture and the Inner City, London, 1993, p.117
  2. LDDC History, People
  3. Travers, T., “Reg Ward Obituary”, The Guardian, 22 February 2011
  4. Edwards, B., London Docklands: Urban Design in an Age of Deregulation, London, 1992, p.9
  5. Travers, T., “Reg Ward Obituary”, The Guardian, 22 February 2011
  6. Deakin, N., & Edwards, J., The Enterprise Culture and the Inner City, London, 1993, p.117
  7. LDDC News Release, 8 Feb 1991: Guardian, 4 Feb 1991, p.6: Docklands Forum, Feb 1991, p.4
  8. Stewart, W., Too Big to Fail: Olympia & York : the Story Behind the Headlines, Washington, 1993, p.158
  9. Museum of London Archaeology, Board of Directors and Trustees, Eric Sorensen. http://www.mola.org.uk/people/eric-sorensen.
  10. Murray, P., “Some Key Figures in London’s Regeneration”, in Littlefield, D. (ed.), London (Re)generation, Architectural Design, 2012. P.114
  11. Travers, T., The Politics of London: Governing an Ungovernable City, 2003, p.150
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