Palimpsest is composed of ten one-minute theses forming an interrogative essay on the constructed face of urban erasure in the West Midlands. The film focuses on The Public, a multi-purpose arts, community and business space designed by Will Alsop. While city boosters hail the ‘creative advantage’ offered by The Public, the film investigates another possibility: that West Bromwich is “neither Shoreditch nor Manhattan”, and cultural regeneration policy merely marks the weak emulation of losing formulas; a loss leader in a zero-sum game.