The Guardian: "London housing crisis: Create streets? Fine. But who decides?"

"The argument for replacing London's badly-made tower blocks with traditional terraces may be strong, but successful 'estate regeneration' is all about where power lies"

Link to web site

"Create Streets is a social enterprise which lobbies for more terraced housing in big cities and against high-rise blocks. At Conservative Home its director Nicholas Boys Smith writes:

"Around 360,000 multi-storey homes were built in London post-war. Many were built in large multi-storey slab or tower blocks. This type of housing is provably less popular and is correlated with poor social outcomes even when you adjust for socio-economic status...

In short, most post-war housing in London has proved to be both a social and economic mistake while also encouraging social segregation...Due to poor quality, much post-war social housing will need to be redeveloped during the next 10 to 30 years."

And he asks:

"How could we improve estate regeneration, reduce the ultimate cost to the taxpayer while also helping economic growth, social integration and living standards?"

"A clear position and a good question. So is Nicholas on the right track?"