ABSTRACT
18This chapter provides some historical background on the King’s Cross area to set the stage for Argent’s present development. It covers the area’s industrial heyday and subsequent decline and then considers regeneration attempts in the 1980s (associated with the decision that King’s Cross station would be the Channel Tunnel high speed rail terminus) and the community opposition that these engendered. It then considers the construction of the high speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) into the terminus at St Pancras, and other rail infrastructure projects that were underway at King’s Cross St Pancras. It concludes with an explanation of the process through which Argent St George was selected as the developer for the King’s Cross site. A timeline to clarify the historical development and complex period of overlapping infrastructure projects can be found on pp.viii-xi.
