The regeneration of urban places is a major force in the landscape of previously declining industrial cities. The processes and policies of regeneration have received considerable research over the years, with a particular emphasis on quantitative indicators to capture large-scale effects. One major change has been the rising role of culture within regeneration. In this thesis, a closer, qualitative view is taken to investigating urban regeneration, to uncover a narrative of two particular and related concerns within cultural urban regeneration. On the one hand, the risks of homogenisation as standardised practices are transferred globally; on the other, the demand for distinctiveness, and for regenerated areas to demonstrate unique and appealing characteristics to mediate global processes, and attract inward investment of economic, social, and human capital. The thesis focuses on the iconic space of the waterfront, and studies three major regenerating cities in the United Kingdom, studying the dynamics of culture, homogenisation, and distinctiveness. From an initial synthesis of theories, a thematic framework is constructed. The thesis then captures the understanding of those themes as articulated by forty-seven elite actors who work within cultural regeneration in the three case study waterfronts, exposing the continuing impact of place in the face of homogenising forces.