The Teesside Development Corporation was a government-backed development corporation

Development Corporation

In England and Wales, Development Corporations are bodies set up by the UK government and charged with the urban development of an area, outside the usual system of Town and Country Planning in the United Kingdom...

 that was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former-county of Cleveland

Cleveland, England

Cleveland is an area in the north east of England. Its name means literally "cliff-land", referring to its hilly southern areas, which rise to nearly...

 in North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

.

It developed several schemes, many on former industrial land, on both sides of the River Tees

River Tees

The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...

 and around Hartlepool

Hartlepool

Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...

 ranging from housing, commercial, light industrial and leisure projects. Its flagship developments included the Tees Barrage

Tees Barrage

The Tees Barrage is a barrage across the River Tees just upriver of Blue House Point in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in North East of England and is used to control the flow of the river, preventing flooding and the effects of tidal change....

, Hartlepool Marina, Teesside Park

Teesside Park

Teesside Park is a retail superstore and leisure development in north east England, built in 1988. Located just off the A66 near the A66/A19 interchange, it is split between the unity authorities of Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough with the line of the Old River Tees, which runs down the middle...

 and Teesdale Business Park

Teesdale Business Park

Teesdale Business Park is a major business park on the former site of Head Wrightsons' Teesdale works in Thornaby-on-Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England. The park was redeveloped by the Teesside Development Corporation. The area is immediately north of Thornaby railway station,...

. During its 11 year lifetime 4.6m sq ft of non-housing development and 1,306 housing units were built. Around 12,226 new jobs were created and some £1,089m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 1295 acres (5.2 km²) of derelict land was reclaimed and 22 miles (35.4 km) of new road and footpaths put in place. The chairman was Sir Ron Norman and the chief executive was Duncan Hall; the deputy chairman was the former Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Easington

Easington (UK Parliament constituency)

Easington is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

, Lord Dormand of Easington.

Following its abolition in 1998 most of its roles were taken over by the four local authorities of Hartlepool

Hartlepool (borough)

Hartlepool is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of County Durham, north east England. In 2003 it had a resident population of 90,161. It borders the non-metropolitan county of County Durham to the north, Stockton-on-Tees to the south and Redcar and Cleveland to the south-east along the...

, Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees (borough)

Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority area and borough in the Tees Valley area of north east England, with a population in 2001 of 178,408, rising to 185,880 in 2005 estimates....

, Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough (borough)

-External links:*...

, and Redcar and Cleveland

Redcar and Cleveland

The borough of Redcar & Cleveland is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England consisting of Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Guisborough, and small towns such as Brotton, Eston, Skelton and Loftus. It had a resident population of 139,132 in 2001, and is part of the Tees...

 as well as the regional development agency OneNorthEast

Regional Development Agency

In the United Kingdom, a regional development agency is a non-departmental public body established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of one of England's Government Office regions. There is one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England...

 and English Partnerships

English Partnerships

English Partnerships was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by Regional Development Agencies on a regional level...

.

The Corporation was later condemned by Labour MP Ashok Kumar for having left a legacy of limited and "often inappropriate and threadbare development".

The areas it regenerated are clearly marked by distinctive TDC statues.