I was pleased to read Rowan Moore’s piece in yesterday’s Observer comparing and contrasting the experience – and the economies – of London and Paris.
I notice that whenever an issue of a new high rise comes up, as in the current argument in favour of a skyscraper placed on top of Liverpool Street Station, the City authorities always frame the argument as one between those in favour of economic and financial growth and the stick-in-the-mud conservationists. But I actually spend quite a lot of time bicycling through and round the City and there is an increasing sense of deadness to it: empty on Mondays and Fridays, few decent shops, restaurants closing; and meanwhile, more and more colossal holes in the street fabric, while ever higher buildings damage all sense of residual character and community. The moment you get into Farringdon or Shoreditch or Brick Lane, the atmosphere is completely different.
The hedge funders moved out long ago. They wanted somewhere decent for lunch and the Wolseley is more enjoyable than Sweetings.
So, which of these urban environments will win out in the end ? I would put my money on Paris: more sustainable, more interesting and increasingly attractive to financial institutions and investors post-Brexit. The City is wearing a blind-fold to what it has done, and is doing, to itself.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 