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Spitalfields is a good example, it’s not perfect but the project took a derelict part of London and turned it into something new without loosing the original essence of the space.
It wasn't derelict, there was a market in there. They just upgraded the market to make it warmer and more tourist friendly, and of course to convert half of it into shops and chain restaurants.
Well, the (original) market was moved out to Hackney Marshes, largely because it had relied on the proximity of the dense network of goods stations in the area (see the map in the link), and when they all closed (Bishopsgate Goods Station burned down in 1964), it became increasingly unsustainable to have the market serviced by lorries. There were also other changes, of course.
The market that then followed wasn't suited to the large market hall, as it wasn't a wholesale market any more, but like a street market moved indoors, and not lucrative enough for the site to be maintained as before. I still would have preferred it to stay, but money talks. I think the development that replaced half the site, and obviously the interior of the part they kept, are pretty soulless, but if that site had come up to be developed today, you would have got something far, far worse.
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Oliver Schick
Soul is an open ended concept so there’s no point looking for definitions.
Spitalfields is a good example, it’s not perfect but the project took a derelict part of London and turned it into something new without loosing the original essence of the space.