Sunderland is a city reinventing itself. I am proud to lead a local authority embarking on this hugely ambitious regeneration programme that will transform the centre of the city, creating a cutting-edge new place to live, work and play.

Part of a wider strategy to make Sunderland a vibrant, dynamic and healthy smart city, Riverside Sunderland will sit within the beating heart of our post-industrial land. This new urban quarter, which centres around the former Vaux Brewery, has stood empty since the 1990s but will soon re-energise the city centre.