February 21st, 2010
A week with a lot of stimulating events and exchanges, and no time to write them up and digest them. It was a good start when I returned feedback on 45 essays - which had taken me ages to prepare and was a great weight off my mind. I get faster at most things but slower at that.
Then on Monday evening the LSE had a seminar by Ian Gordon - very stimulating and data-rich as usual - in which he was trying to work out why London has such high levels of worklessness. Part of the concentration of worklessness is, of course, an illusion Read the rest of this entry »
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February 11th, 2010
Last night the proposers of a major new medical research centre at Brill Place (King’s Cross St Pancras) showed their scheme at a meeting called by Camden Council in Somers Town, the adjoining district. There is huge conflict about this project because the site has long been earmarked for a mix of activty including social housing and community facilities, none of which could be built if the research centre goes ahead. It was a fraught, tense, meeting at times with objectors expressng variously frustration, impotence and rage while the proponents were very civilised and rather peeved to be seen as anything other than battling for the public interest. It tells us a lot about the balance of power in urban decision making, the weakness of the planning system and the transformation of democratic local govenment into a neutered facilitator of the city’s transformation. This is a quick short note to capture some reactions and I may expand it later. Read the rest of this entry »
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January 8th, 2010
Story now enters its sixth month. Drainage channel and new tarmac laid. Will it work? Later (20 Feb) NO: smaller but still a puddle. See below.
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December 30th, 2009
My brother gave me for christmas Perry Anderson’s The New Old World (Verso 2009) and I have just finished reading it, mostly with huge enjoyment, and have learned a lot. I rarely read 500-page books (the last time was Braudel during a Greek island holiday ten years ago) but this one has grabbed all the time Read the rest of this entry »
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December 21st, 2009
The Woodberry Down social housing estate in Hackney, subject of a “regeneration” scheme in which blocks are demolished to make space for private developers to build flats for sale and for a “city academy” school. This sign must be a lawyer’s attempt to prevent anyone claiming that the land is public and thus inhibiting its privatisation. The site is a fine hill top with long views. I sent the picture round the pnuk list as a new year greeting and Peter Marcuse replied, saying he would use it in a lecture in Taiwan (with attribution). Nice.
Later: London Federation of Tenants is campaigning (with others) against the displacement of social rented housing to make way for owner-occupers, legitimated on the grounds of “social mix”. See their submission about the draft London Plan.
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December 9th, 2009
Debates, discussions and solid work are building up as part of the consulltation process on Boris Johnson’s ‘Draft Replacement London Plan’ with a small but excellent group of UCL students working to support Just Space network of community and voluntary groups. Strong and rapidly-developing set of critiques at http://ucljustspace.wordpress.co The 22 strong submissions by groups in Just Space which came out of all that can be seen at http://justspace2010.wordpress.com
In December there was a seminar at LSE on the London Plan. The main presentations are here. In the mean time this is what I contributed. Read the rest of this entry »
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November 30th, 2009
I have just been reading a report by the great and the good, The Future of Housing: rethinking the UK housing system for the twenty-first century, being the result of a 3-day seminar chaired by Richard Best and published by the “Building and Social Housing Foundation” of which I had never heard. It came free in the post (from Coalville) and… Read the rest of this entry »
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October 19th, 2009
Very stimulating few days at seminars on a programme for the restoration of old buildings in 50 villages in Palestine, hosted at Bir Zeit by a wonderful team of people led by Suad Amiri and the organisation Riwaq which organised it as part of a biennale. This picture is a link to my photos.
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September 3rd, 2009
[action at last! - December - but an ice hazard in January. Serious action in February. See end. ] For four decades I have been commuting daily through Euston in London where I (and thousands of others) walk to and from the station through a public garden, Euston Square. Just where we all pass through a narrow gap (between railings and a wall) there is a puddle. It’s been there for decades and looks like this
[click the picture for more shots] On 2 September 2009 I decided to report it. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 18th, 2009
At past inquiries we have often been told that the plan is “evidence based” and wished we had “evidence” with which to challenge it. The planning team has told us (in a Just Space meeting) that now is the time to tell them if we think the research they are doing is the wrong research. So we have made a submission and it’s here as the rest of this post Read the rest of this entry »
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