Editing Coventry (section)

===Post-Second World War===
[[File:Belvedere over Coventry.png|thumb|A helicopter placing the [[Flèche (architecture)|Flèche]] (spire) on top of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962.]]

====Redevelopment====
In the post-war years Coventry was largely rebuilt under the general direction of the [[Donald Gibson (architect)|Gibson Plan]], gaining a new pedestrianised shopping precinct (the first of its kind in Europe on such a scale) and in 1962 Sir [[Basil Spence]]'s much-celebrated new [[Coventry Cathedral|St Michael's Cathedral]] (incorporating one of the world's largest tapestries) was consecrated. Its prefabricated steel spire (flèche) was lowered into place by helicopter.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

Further housing developments in the private and public sector took place after the Second World War, partly to accommodate the growing population of the city and also to replace condemned and bomb damaged properties. Several new suburbs were constructed in the post-war period, including [[Tile Hill]], [[Wood End, Coventry|Wood End]], and [[Stoke Aldermoor]].{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

====Boom and bust====
[[File:NSB Reynolds Coventry Market Way 1964.jpg|thumb|Market Way, 1964]]
[[File:The_Upper_Precinct_(geograph_7197057).jpg|thumb|Coventry precinct with spire of ruined cathedral in the background, part of the post-war redevelopment of the city centre]]

Coventry's motor industry boomed during the 1950s and 1960s and Coventry enjoyed a 'golden age'. In 1960 over 81,000 people were employed in the production of motor vehicles, tractors and aircraft in Coventry.<ref name="BHOLcraftsandindustry"/> During this period the disposable income of Coventrians was amongst the highest in the country and both the sports and the arts benefited. A new sports centre, with one of the few Olympic standard swimming pools in the UK, was constructed and [[Coventry City Football Club]] reached the First Division of English Football. The [[Belgrade Theatre]] (named in recognition of a gift of timber from the [[Yugoslavia|Yugoslavian]] capital city<ref name=":9" />) was also constructed along with the [[Herbert Art Gallery]]. Coventry's pedestrianised Precinct shopping area came into its own and was considered one of the finest retail experiences outside London. In 1965 the new [[University of Warwick]] campus was opened to students, and rapidly became one of the country's leading higher-education institutions.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

Coventry's large industrial base made it attractive to the wave of [[South Asians in the United Kingdom|Asian]] and [[Caribbean]] immigrants who arrived from [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] colonies after 1948. In 1950, one of Britain's first [[mosque]]s—and the very first in Coventry—was opened on Eagle Street to serve the city's growing Pakistani community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.localhistories.org/coventry.html|title=A brief history of Coventry|work=localhistories.org|first=Tim|last=Lambert|access-date=21 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810131029/http://www.localhistories.org/coventry.html|archive-date=10 August 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The 1970s, however, saw a decline in the British motor industry and Coventry suffered particularly badly, especially towards the end of that decade. By the 1970s, most of Coventry's motor companies had been absorbed and rationalised into larger companies, such as [[British Leyland]] and [[Chrysler Europe|Chrysler]] which subsequently collapsed. The [[early 1980s recession]] dealt Coventry a particularly severe blow: By 1981, Coventry was in an economic crisis, with one in six of its residents unemployed. By 1982, the number of British Leyland employees in the city had fallen from 27,000 at its height, to just 8,000. Other Coventry industrial giants such as the tool manufacturer [[Alfred Herbert (company)|Alfred Herbert]] also collapsed during this time.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Coventry also became the centre of the [[Two-tone (music genre)|Two-tone]] musical phenomena. The two-tone style was multi-racial, derived from the traditional [[Jamaican music]] genres of [[ska]], [[reggae]] and [[rocksteady]] combined with elements of [[punk rock]] and [[New wave music|new wave]]. Bands considered part of the genre include [[the Specials]], [[the Selecter]], [[Madness (band)|Madness]], [[The Beat (British band)|the Beat]], [[Bad Manners]], [[The Bodysnatchers (band)|the Bodysnatchers]] and [[Akrylykz]]. Most famously the Specials 1981 UK no.1 hit '[[Ghost Town (The Specials song)|Ghost Town]]' reflected the unemployment and desolation of Coventry at the time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coventry, from 2 Tone Ghost Town to City of Culture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/may/28/coventry-2-tone-ghost-town-uk-city-of-culture |work=The Guardian |access-date=2 April 2023 |date=28 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=This article is more than 2 years old The Guardian view on two-tone nostalgia: the pride of Coventry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/11/the-guardian-view-on-two-tone-nostalgia-the-pride-of-coventry |work=The Guardian |date=11 February 2021 |access-date=2 April 2023}}</ref>