Tag: london
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A beautiful city
Read in ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ (1859) of Charles Dickens: Have you read all those newspapers publishing on Paris this weekend? On all those killings, violence in the streets, terrorism, islam. Can’t get enough? I prefer rereading Charles Dickens. Dickens published his great novel on the French revolution in 1859. His own life…
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The future
Read in ‘Future City’ (1973) of Roger Elwood (editor): Today I will give a lecture at the conference for teachers in geography of the Royal Dutch Geographical Society (KNAG) in Ede, the Netherlands. Subject: the future. Some 800 teachers will be there. Where to begin? How to end my story? For inspiration, I reread ‘Future…
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Building green belts
Read in The Economist of 26 September 2015: Something’s badly wrong. On my way back from the UK, I read an article in this week’s edition of The Economist on the booming housing market in and around London. Despite stagnant incomes, Britons have taken on masses of cheap debt. All this demand has run…
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Delicious liquorice
Read on CityMetric on 1 July 2015: There is a fierce debate going on in Great Britain about the future of its London airports. BAA wants to expand the capacity of Heathrow, west of London. The mayor of London, Mr. Johnson, is favoring the building of a new hub on an artificial island in the…
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Highrise is coming
Read in Het Parool of 1 August 2015: So we spent a week in London. We booked an Airbnb in Hampstead Heath, London North. An excellent appartment, though rather small compared to Dutch standards. We met friends, all living in London now. Why did they chose for London? Because, they said, here are the…
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Importance of a ping-pong table
Read this summer in London and on the beach: At the beginning of every summer, more or less round the month of July, correspondents and critics of newspapers and popular magazines always give personal lists of their favorite books. ‘These are the books I advise you to read.’ I love those lists. So that’s why…
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Metro mayors
Read in The Economist of 6 June 2015: George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer in the UK Cameron administration, called the Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds-Sheffield urban region a new ‘Northern Powerhouse’. At least he wants it to become a new engine. The Economist agrees very much on that. Great Britain, it states, is one of the…
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Winner takes all
Read in The Economist of 12 June 2016: In the UK, just like in many other countries, regional inequality is growing fast. London is the big winner, cities in the North are the big losers. As Richard Florida already forecasted years ago, the world is getting pretty spiky. The principle is simple: ‘success breeds…
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Uitgewoonde metropool
Gelezen in Politics, Planning and Homes in a World City (2010) van Duncan Bowie: De eindconclusie van Duncan Bowie ten aanzien van de planning van Londen in het eerste decennium van de eenentwintigste eeuw is inkt, inktzwart. Hij waarschuwt andere steden in de wereld het voorbeeld van de Britse hoofdstad niet te volgen. Investeringen in…
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Bestuurlijke drukte
Gelezen in Politics, Planning and Homes in a World City (2010) van Duncan Bowie: The London Plan (2004) was het eerste regionale strategische plan dat gereed kwam onder de nieuwe wetgeving van de Britse Labourregering van premier Tony Blair. De Londense planoloog Bowie verbaast zich nog altijd over het feit dat The London Plan van…