The Merseyside Development Corporation was a central government-appointed 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...

 set up in 1981 by Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

's government to regenerate the Mersey

River Mersey

The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

 docks of Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, Bootle

Bootle

Bootle is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, and a 'Post town' in the L postcode area. Formally known as Bootle-cum-Linacre, the town is 4 miles  to the north of Liverpool city centre, and has a total resident population of 77,640.Historically part of...

, Wallasey

Wallasey

Wallasey is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England, on the mouth of the River Mersey, at the northeastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula...

 and Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

. It was one of two Development Corporations to be set up in 1981, the other being the London Docklands Development Corporation

London Docklands Development Corporation

The London Docklands Development Corporation was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and...

, which also focused on disused docklands.

The first Chief Executive was Basil Bean, who had previously been general manager of the Northampton Development Corporation. Actitivies undertaken by the Corporation include the Liverpool International Garden Festival

International Garden Festival

thumb|200px|right|Commemorative [[coffee]] [[mug]] from the festival, showing a [[cartoon]] [[Liver bird]].The International Garden Festival was a garden festival recognised by the International Association of Horticultural producers and the Bureau of International Exhibitions and held in...

 in 1984, and the redevelopment of the Albert Dock

Albert Dock

The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood...

 complex, which included the opening of Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporation...

.

During its lifetime 7.6m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 486 housing units were built. Around 22,155 new jobs were created and some £698m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 944 acres (3.8 km²) of derelict land was reclaimed and 60 miles (96.6 km) of new road and footpaths put in place.

The Corporation was wound up in 1998.