“Crossrail for the bike” in Mayor’s £913m cycling plan

7 MARCH 2013 - link to report (PDF)

"The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will create a 'Crossrail for the bike' as part of his plans for a nearly £1 billion investment in London cycling. The route will run for more than 15 miles, very substantially segregated, from the western suburbs through the heart of London to Canary Wharf and Barking.

"It will use new Dutch-style segregated cycle tracks along, among other places, the Victoria Embankment and the Westway flyover. It is believed to be the longest substantially-segregated cycle route of any city in Europe.

"The Mayor said:

“The Westway, the ultimate symbol of how the urban motorway tore up our cities, will become the ultimate symbol of how we are claiming central London for the bike.”

"The Mayor today announced that the main cross-London physical legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games will be a proper network of cycle routes across the city. As in the public transport system, London’s 'bike Crossrail' will lie at the heart of a new bike 'Tube network.' Over the next four years London will open a range of high-quality new cycle routes parallel to, and named after, Tube lines and bus routes, so everyone knows where they go.

"Other elements in the 'Mayor’s Vision for Cycling' include:

• more Dutch-style fully-segregated lanes;

• more 'semi-segregation' on other streets, with bikes better separated from other vehicles;

• a new network of 'Quietways' – direct, continuous, fully-signposted routes on peaceful side streets, running far into the suburbs, and aimed at people put off by cycling in traffic;

• substantial improvements to both existing and proposed Superhighways, including some reroutings;

• a new 'Central London Grid' of bike routes in the City and West End, using segregation, quiet streets, and two-way cycling on one-way traffic streets, to join all the other routes together.

"The Mayor added:

“I want to de-Lycrafy cycling. I want to make it normal, something for everyone, something you feel comfortable doing in your ordinary clothes. Our new routes will give people the confidence to get in the saddle. I do not promise perfection, or that London will become Amsterdam any time soon. But what I do say is that this plan marks a profound shift in my ambitions and intentions for the bicycle.

The reason I am spending almost £1 billion on this is my belief that helping cycling will not just help cyclists. It will create better places for everyone. It means less traffic, more trees, more places to sit and eat a sandwich. It means more seats on the Tube, less competition for a parking place and fewer cars in front of yours at the lights. Above all, it will fulfil my aim of making London’s air cleaner. If just 14 per cent of journeys in central London were cycled, emissions there of the greatest vehicle pollutant, NOx, would fall by almost a third and over the years literally thousands of lives could be saved.”

"Today's plan includes major and substantial improvements to the worst junctions, making them safer and less threatening for cyclists with measures such as segregation and cycle-only paths or phases. Junctions to be tackled in the next three years include Blackfriars, Vauxhall, Tower, Swiss Cottage, and Elephant & Castle. The budget for TfL’s safer junction review has been more than quintupled, from £19 million to £100 million, and the money will be focused on fewer sites.
TfL is conducting off-site trials of new, cyclist-friendly innovations, such as 'Dutch-style' roundabouts and eye-level traffic lights for cyclists. If these trials are successful, and the Department for Transport allows, they will be rolled out on the road network.

"There will be 'mini-Hollands' in the suburbs, with between one and three outer boroughs chosen for very high spending concentrated in those relatively small areas for the greatest possible impact. The aim, over time, is that these suburbs will become every bit as cycle-friendly as their Dutch equivalents; places that suburbs and towns all over Britain will want to copy. Funding specifically earmarked for outer London will rise from £3 million to more than £100 million.

"Lorry safety will be a major focus of the plan, as they disproportionately kill and seriously injure cyclists. This work will build upon TfL’s successful work with the haulage industry and they will continue to work to encourage out-of-hours deliveries, to reduce the numbers of heavy vehicles in the city during peak times, and will closely study the experience of other cities where larger lorries are banned from parts of the city or at times of the day.

"The vision flags that the Mayor’s team will campaign for better laws that do not send the wrong message about the behaviour we expect on our roads. In the meantime, there will be funding for eight police officers to investigate cyclist collisions with HGVs, vigorously gather the best possible evidence and press for the toughest possible action under existing law.
Transport for London will work to pinpoint the most dangerous places using "Compstat"-style near-realtime monitoring of casualties. And new 20mph speed limits for all traffic will be introduced on several parts of the TfL-controlled main road network where cycling improvements are planned.

"Other work outlined in the Mayor’s vision for cycling includes a new pilot scheme allowing communities to design safe routes to school, and a new approach to children's cycle training, which will be delivered in all London schools. In conjunction with Network Rail, work will be carried out to deliver a massive Dutch-style bike superhub at a mainline terminus, with space for thousands of bikes and very good cycle routes radiating from it. The aim is that thousands of commuters switch from Tube and bus to bikes for the last stage of their journeys to work, significantly relieving pressure on the public transport networks in central London. Work will also take place with the train operators to deliver smaller superhubs at some key suburban stations.

"A trial of electric bikes will be conducted, including a small self-contained public electric bike hire scheme, similar to Barclays Cycle Hire.

"Work will continue to expand the Mayor’s flagship Barclays cycle hire scheme later this year into parts of Wandsworth, Lambeth and Hammersmith & Fulham.  But the Mayor’s vision also flags how he will investigate further incremental expansion of the network and integrate it into contactless payment, TfL's future ticketing system, to make it a fully joined-up part of the transport network.  Companies, hotels and universities will be encouraged to install docking stations in their premises at their own expense for their staff, guests and students.

"As announced in the TfL business plan the overall budget for cycling will rise to £913 million, two and a half times more than previously planned, with almost £400 million spent in the next three years alone. Cycle spending will rise to £145 million in 2015, or around £18 per head, up with the best in Germany and almost on a par with the Netherlands.

"Sir Peter Hendy, Transport Commissioner for London, who was with the Mayor at the launch, said:

“Across the Western world, forward-thinking cities are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in the bicycle, knowing that well-designed schemes can deliver benefits far greater than their relatively modest cost.

These policies are a step-change in cycling provision, and I commit TfL to delivering them as one of its highest priorities. But I am committed, too, because I believe this is about so much more than routes for cyclists. It is about the huge health and economic benefits that cycling can bring. And it is about helping the transport system meet the enormous demands that will be placed on it.”

British Cycling's Chris Boardman, the Olympic gold medallist and long-term advocate for better cycling, who joined the Mayor and Sir Peter, said:

"This is the most ambitious cycling development and promotion plan in the UK in living memory, perhaps ever. I'm delighted to have been involved and look forward to the great changes it will bring to London."

"The first Quietways will open next year, with the improved Superhighways and the central section of 'bike Crossrail' complete by 2016. All outer London boroughs are invited to apply for the 'mini-Hollands' programme. The successful candidate(s) will be chosen later this year and work will begin in 2014.

"TfL will work in close partnership with the London boroughs, who own the vast majority of the capital's roads, to deliver the new cycle routes. The first planning conference for the Central London Grid, with the seven central boroughs, the Royal Parks and the City, will take place next week. Routes for the Grid, and Quietways, will be announced as soon as they have been agreed with the boroughs.

Baroness Jo Valentine, Chief Executive of London First, said:

“The is a visionary proposal from the Mayor to improve cycling infrastructure in London.  It should be part of a wider debate about how we use scarce road space and accommodate all those who need to get around the city, whether for pleasure, on business or to make deliveries. London has long needed a joined up transport strategy that effectively integrates all modes of transport and this move to encourage more people to cycle is a welcome first step.”

Councillor Ed Argar, cabinet member for city management, transport and environment at Westminster City Council, said:

"I share the Mayor's vision and ambition. We will work with him to make a real step change a reality on our streets."

Councillor Sarah Hayward, Leader of Camden Council, said:

"Camden is prioritising and delivering excellent provision for cyclists in the borough, from commuters to weekend enthusiasts. We welcome further investment in the network, and a linking up of the cycle routes across London, improving air quality and reducing congestion. Camden will be at the heart of the plans so we are looking forward to working with the Mayor to get the best cycling facilities for our residents and businesses."

German Dector-Vega,  London Director of Sustrans, said:

“It’s great to see cycling being championed by politicians like Boris Johnson, particularly as fuel prices rise and we struggle to find opportunities to live healthy lives. The London experience shows that real progress can be made through committed political leadership that listens to the voice of cyclists and creates a long-term vision for cycling.

The Mayor’s latest plans include a raft of ideas that will help cycling become a genuine choice for getting around, particularly new riders and those in outer London. As ever, the devil will be in the detail and Sustrans looks forward to working with the Mayor, local authorities, Transport for London and cyclists themselves to ensure we grasp every opportunity to make our roads safer, our cycle network better and, crucially, train and inspire more Londoners to get on their bikes.”

BBC: "How London bloggers changed cycling"

Link to web site

"Aside from the infrastructure - which cyclists will no doubt judge when it is delivered - this is also a big day and a victory for London's cycling bloggers.

"These sites - among others - started campaigning for improvements to cycling safety in the years before the last Mayoral election. They were a thorn in the side of the Boris Johnson administration."

Cycle London City blog

London Cyclist Blog

I Bike London

Vole O'Speed

As Easy As Riding A Bike

Daily Telegraph: "The gap between rich and poor will continue to grow until we give up on QE"

Link to web site

"The world's rich are getting richer. The Forbes billionaire list was published this morning (there are now 1,426 of them globally in dollar terms, with 210 new entrants in the last year), and collectively they are $800bn richer than they were a year ago. Each billionaire is, on average, $100m richer than in 2011, with an average wealth of $3.7bn.

"It can hardly be a surprise. Across the world, stock markets are booming. Bond prices are also strong in developed markets, despite those same sovereigns usually being mired in a debt crisis.... Strong stocks and strong bonds are an unusual mix. ... What is unusual about the present climate is that so much money has been created by central banks that there is sufficient available to create a bubble in, well, everything.

"This has a lot to do with how QE operates. Unlike straight money printing, it is designed to transfer money to banks, not to the consumer or to the government. ... The main reason that QE has not been catastrophically inflationary is that so little of it has filtered down to the high street. For the most part, it has simply pushed up values across the board in the financial markets."

Hammerson is after Paris's Beaugrenelle: "Ah, drink a cognac watching the sunset over the North Circular Road; view the city from the top of the 140m Brent Cross waste incinerator chimney; eat a gourmet picnic on a 266 bus to Acton..."

Property Investor Europe News:

"UK-based REIT Hammerson is interested in acquiring French REIT/SIIC Gecina's Beaugrenelle shopping centre in Paris when it is put on the market, says Hammerson France MD Jean-Philippe Mouton.

"Gecina has said it will eventually look to sell the 45,000 sq.m. mall, which is due to open in September."

(Life of PIE)

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(cliquer sur the image above)

A NEW SHOPPING EXPERIENCE IN BEAUGRENELLE PARIS
"Beaugrenelle offers a new way of experiencing shopping in the French capital; it is also an invitation to take a stroll on the banks of the Seine (les Quais de Seine). The city’s lovers will be able to come and feel the pulse of Paris…"

AN ORIGINAL ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT
"Beaugrenelle is neither a shopping center, nor a department store; it offers visitors a brand new way of living a Parisian experience of shopping and leisure.
"The Rue Linois acts as a crossroads, a meeting point between the Left and Right Banks of the Seine: it is now undergoing a great transformation and becoming a brand new high street for the French capital.
"Designed around islands and open-spaces, Beaugrenelle offers many perspectives on the Seine and the Parisian landscape."

A RESOLUTELY EVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY DESIGN
"To meet the designers’ vision of excellence and quality, the Beaugrenelle project and all the brands and retailers have worked together to establish a sustainable development contract. The contract applies to both indoor and outdoor areas (HQE® and BREEAM norms and regulations)."

"An invitation to take a stroll on the banks of the A406..."
(Link to 'CBRD' web site)

"Glass pavilion in the sky will transform the Cinderella Southbank." (Whereas 'leisure' at Brent Cross will be an out-of-town - instead of high street - new cinema)

Link to Evening Standard

"The Southbank Centre is to undergo a radical £120 million transformation that includes a new glass pavilion in the sky, it was announced today.

"The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery are to be re-named the Festival Wing and closed for up to three years while the revamp takes place. But the end result will be new space for performances, exhibitions and socialising, carved out of reclaimed and forgotten corridors and plant works on the 21-acre site.

"The project will bring the Sixties buildings up to the standard of the slightly older Royal Festival Hall, which underwent a renovation at similar cost six years ago."

# "Bre-nt. Cross the Mersey,..." # (Gerry and their Pacemakers)

Link to The Guardian

"A £5.5bn redevelopment of Liverpool's docklands that will dramatically alter the Merseyside skyline is set to begin after it was waved through by the government, despite warnings that it puts in jeopardy the city's prized Unesco world heritage site status.

"The Liverpool Waters project includes 9,000 apartments, hundreds of offices, hotels, bars and a new cruise terminal on 60 acres of derelict dockland. The Peel group also wants to build two clusters of skyscrapers, including a 55-storey tower, which would become the tallest building in north-west England."

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Post-war Housing and Leisure. (As opposed to Hammerson's proposal for an out-of-town cinema at Brent Cross. Just saying.)

Lambeth Towers, opposite Imperial War Museum
Link to The Guardian

"The architect George Finch has died, aged 82, at the height of a campaign to save his Brixton Recreation Centre, in south London, designed in 1971 and opened in 1985.

[In 1950,] he was appointed by the London County Council to ginger up a team of elderly surveyors, whose repetitive scheme for Spring Walk, Stepney, had been rejected.

"Finch's design exemplified the best of mixed development, the dominant ideology for housing in the 1950s, with a 10-storey block of flats that gave space for old people's flats and two-storey houses, unique in central London at the time. Flats at the top of the tower had roof gardens. It was followed by work on the Suffolk Estate in Haggerston, an early low-rise, high-density scheme, again with houses as well as flats.

"The halcyon days for LCC housing ended with the reorganisation of London government in 1965, when responsibility for most house building passed to the boroughs. Finch joined the new architect's department created at Lambeth in 1963 by Edward Hollamby, also from the LCC. 

"Hollamby adopted a pre-cast system for six tower blocks on landmark sites to relieve the borough's most urgent needs, while his department explored low-rise solutions and refurbishment. Finch made a detailed study that refuted system-building's claims to be quicker and cheaper than conventional construction, but he contributed to the heavily articulated towers, giving them a distinctive profile and setting them at angles he described as 'dancing around'."

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Link to Lambeth Towers, on 'Utopia London'

George Finch - Brixton Rec from utopialondon on Vimeo.

[Reposted] LGA: "Alternative high street: Rethinking the town centre challenge"

Link to PDF
(from early-2012)

"For better or for worse, our town centres are changing, responding to powerful socio-economic trends driving shifts in retail behaviour.

"Locally, there is consensus among town centre partners that new approaches are needed to ensure high streets adapt successfully, the merits of which are drawn out by the contributions to this report.

"Nationally, Mary Portas, like most other national commentators, has pointed to plummeting retail spend in town centres as the beginning of the end for high streets.

"But it is crucial that we begin to think more positively about the challenge facing our town centres. Retail is not the future, and town centres are adapting. We have to go back to the start, moving beyond retail, and refocusing places as centres of social, community and cultural economies.

"This is our vision for the alternative high street."

Mail on Sunday: "One in four of the UK's top companies pay no tax, while we give THEM millions in credits"

Link to web site

"Almost one in four of Britain’s biggest listed companies paid no corporation tax in this country last year – and almost half fail to disclose their tax payments to the UK at all, according to research by 'The Mail on Sunday'.

"Analysis of the latest annual reports and accounts of all the companies in the FTSE 100 found that 47 companies gave no obvious figures for tax paid in Britain.

"Of the 53 who did, 12 showed they paid no tax at all, and, of these, six actually received a tax credit."

Retail Gazette: "Hammerson reports 'transformational' year" (From Boris's "Dead in the Water," to new Brent Cross out-of-town cinema? That's progress?)

Link to web site

"2012 was a transformational year for Hammerson, where we successfully executed over £1 billion of investment activity, to become a pure retail-focused company." [It's also useful that our employee share scheme is run from an off-shore tax-haven, isn't it? And it's great that we partner another off-shore tax-haven company in developing some of Brent Cross!]

"Looking forward, our visibility of the future earnings profile of the business [who wrote this?] gives us confidence, and we continue to seek opportunities to enhance the scale and efficiency of our business through further acquisitions." [Assuming Westfield doesn't swallow us first.]

Lobbying the Greater London Assembly, Tom Copley and all: Questions to Boris (Sustainability, not out-of-town cinema!)

[Reposted] "Towards a Brent Cross Vortex Sutra" (Now, you don't say THAT every day)

Click on the picture, 
c1965, to enlarge.

"Lest the amateur
psychogeographer
feels the need to sneer at the
cultural shallowness
of Brent Cross..."

(as if we would!)

- visit this site here.

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Also link to:

"Brent Cross - the North-West Passage"

and even venture (in a new window) to:
"The Brent Cross Omphalos"

Daily Telegraph: "Historic market town in Dorset becomes latest community to battle Tesco over superstore plans"

"Here's one I prepared earlier"
Link to web site

"Virtually every person in Sherborne, which is home to an 8th Century abbey, is fighting to prevent their community from turning into a 'Tesco Town'.

"Former Blue Peter presenter Valerie Singleton is one of 8,500 people (out of a population of 9,350) to have signed a petition against the superstore. Retail expert Mary Portas, who campaigns on behalf of small high street shops, is also supporting their cause.

"Unlike most other British towns, historic Sherborne in Dorset has so far been immune to the wave of more than 3,000 Tesco outlets that have sprung up across the country."

Daily Mail: "Amazon's human robots: Is this the future of the British workplace?"

Link to web site

"As online shopping explodes in Britain, helping to push traditional retailers such as HMV out of business, more and more jobs are moving from High Street shops into warehouses like this one.

"Under pressure over its tax arrangements, Amazon has tried to stress how many jobs it is creating across the country at a time of economic malaise.

"The undisputed behemoth of the online retail world has invested more than £1 billion in its UK operations and announced last year that it would open another three warehouses over the next two years and create 2,000 more permanent jobs.

"Amazon even had a quote from the Prime Minister, in its September press release. David Cameron said:

"This is great news, not only for those individuals who will find work, but for the UK economy."

Streetsblog: "Sprawl Madness: Two Houses Share Backyard, Separated by 7 Miles of Roads"

Link to web site

"Just how absurd have American development patterns become over the past few decades?

"Behold: Two houses with adjoining backyards in suburban Orlando. If you want to travel the streets from point A on Anna Catherine Drive to point B on Summer Rain Drive, which are only 50 feet apart, you’ll have to go a minimum of seven miles. The trip would take almost twenty minutes in a car, according to Google Maps.

"Windy street patterns, full of cul-de-sacs and circles, have become such a ubiquitous feature of the suburbs that they mostly escape remark.

But disconnected streets have many insidious consequences for the environment, public health, and social equity."

"Are building regulations the enemy of architecture?"

Link to The Guardian

"Building in the UK is a dense minefield of rules and regulations that governs everything from the size of windows to the pitch of rooftops, the depth of stair treads to the gradient of slopes – even where to put light switches. From overlooking distances to rights to light, every aspect of a new building has been quantified and calibrated before the designer even sets pen to paper.

"...The Nigerian capital of Lagos is a seemingly chaotic frenzy of ad hoc urbanism, [but] research unearthed the obscure 'LSPD Regulation 15', which defines the city-wide setback rule – the distance every development must step back from its legal boundary.

"A regulated no-man's-land between buildings and the street, ranging from three to nine metres, this buffer zone in fact turned out to be the most lively and dynamic part of the city's fabric. 'It allows Lagosians to take personal responsibility for themselves. Nothing is legally sanctioned within this zone, yet – somewhat counterintuitively – anything can happen. The setback is a legally defined zone of extra-legal tolerance'." 

The subject will be debated at the RIBA on Tuesday 5 March, at Constraint and Creativity: Is Red Tape the Enemy of Architecture? Liam Ross will be joined by Tom Mullarkey from the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, Piers Gough of CZWG Architects, Alex Ely of Mae Architects, Tim Gill of Rethinking Childhood, and Finn Williams of Common Office. The exhibition runs until 27 April, and Guardian Extra members can buy tickets for the talks at the discounted rate of £5.

"Westfield mall ‘twins’ ring up £2bn sales after Olympic shoppers flood in"

Link to Evening Standard

"The Westfield shopping centres generated almost £2 billion of sales last year, as thousands of Olympic visitors flooded through the new Stratford mall.

"The first full year of opening for both Westfield 'twins' drew almost 70 million people to the malls in Shepherd’s Bush and the East End.

"The 'Westfield effect' hit the number of shoppers visiting the West End, where footfall slumped 2.7 per cent last year in what was described as 'a clearly disappointing' result in a new report."

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Brent Cross's Hammerson is now a junior partner in 'Westfield Croydon'.

"Hammerson [rival to Westfield, had] presented pre-application proposals for a similar retail and leisure mix, with its housing element of around 300 flats largely provided by revamping the existing Centre Tower in the Croydon Whitgift shopping complex.

"The largest difference between the two schemes is in the overall design concept, with Westfield opting for a covered centre, while Hammerson favours a more open development of shopping streets and squares.

"Both developers want to attract a major department store into the town and favour John Lewis."

Read more: thisiscroydontoday
Follow: @thisiscroydon on Twitter | thisiscroydontoday on Facebook

"A whole generation priced out: London housing squeeze worsens as rents hit all-time high"

Link to Evening Standard

"London’s great housing squeeze has worsened dramatically, with prices and rents hitting new all-time highs.

"Prices have surged since Christmas as buyers flood into the market, while rents are going up at more than three times the rate of inflation.

"The average London home jumped in value by 2.5 per cent last month to a record £373,207, according to the Land Registry. Prices are now 7.1 per cent higher than they were a year ago."

"Elephant and Castle and beyond: what is the right way to regenerate in London?"

Link to The Guardian

"Two weeks ago, I asked readers to debate Southwark Council's deal with property giant Lend Lease for the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle. The borough's Labour leadership had faced unflattering press coverage and renewed attacks from local campaigners after the price it had secured for the Heygate estate site, which lies at the heart of the wider redevelopment area, was disclosed. But if Southwark had got it wrong, what would have been right?

"I raised the question because it seems to me that London - and other cities - needs some convincing answers. Though sceptical about the claims made by Labour and Conservative boroughs alike for large-scale urban renewal projects of this type, and very well aware that the poorest residents of an area are often victims of its 'regeneration' rather than beneficiaries – I have, after all, been covering the Earls Court project for four years - I find the arguments of some of the more vocal critics of such schemes shallow and even contradictory.

"If an alternative approach is to catch on any time soon, it needs to be imaginative yet practical, have broad public appeal, and to stack up intellectually.

"I'm very grateful to the majority of contributors to a very stimulating comment thread. True, a minority were indignant that I'd reported Southwark's leader's defence of the Lend Lease deal, yet were unwilling or unable to offer a solid argument against it (to those people I suggest some further reading). But most of the thread was characterized by illuminating insights and exchanges."

Barnet Times: "New buyer for shopping centre in Barnet comes forward" (No, it's not Hammerson selling up at Brent Cross)

Link to web site

"A new buyer has been lined up for The Spires shopping centre, days after a deal with a major property firm collapsed.

"Owner UBS Triton had announced earlier this month it was finalising an agreement to sell the High Barnet shopping centre to Redefine International.

"But the deal, which includes the dilapidated car park site of Barnet Market, unexpectedly collapsed last week."

Daily Telegraph: "Primark owner confident British high street will 'regenerate' as it sees 23pc sales growth"

Link to web site

"Despite a dire few months for UK retailers, that has seen HMV, Blockbuster, Comet and Jessops fail, John Bason, finance director of Primark's ABF, said he was confident the high street would 'regenerate'. He said:

"I would be amazed if anybody is calling the end of the high street. The shape of the high street will change, but as it always has done."

"Recent retail casualties reflected the 'technological change affecting that sector', he said, as customers move online."

Boris Retweeted Us - to 634918 followers!

(Click to see whole session)

Sunday Telegraph: "Britain's housebuilders get back on the ladder to a boom"

Link to web site

"As in previous months, the housebuilding companies' financial results will continue to spell out the sector's upbeat story of repaired profit margins, as the companies:

• build on land they bought more cheaply after the housing crash
• move away from city-centre flats to family homes, and
• continue to increase their sales from a very depressed base.

"... [While a government scheme is supporting] housing market activity, consumers' expectations of rising house prices may also be playing a part, incentivising people to look at buying now.

"... [But] any pick-up in the housing market, as with the housebuilding sector, is coming off a weak base. Despite the rise in mortgage approvals, they are still only around half the level they were before the financial crisis. Some may also argue that rising house sales and, as a result, prices, will continue to shut out first-time buyers, and should not be encouraged."

Link to web site

The Observer:
"Without affordable new homes, how do we build a better Britain?"

"The pre-crash long credit boom masked [various] strains: mortgage lenders would offer mortgages that were 100% or more of the property valuation, and often to dubious credit risks. In the process, they lifted house prices well beyond what incomes could normally bear.

"No more. Poor credit risks are being shunned. Moreover, the prospect that middle earners' incomes will be 3% lower in 2020 than in 2008, as the Resolution Foundation's commission on living standards reported, is a further blow.

"To make matters worse, the flow of first-time buyers in the decade ahead will be hit as ex-students defer purchase because they are shouldering £40,000 or more of debts from fees. British house prices, reckons the IMF, are up to 30% higher than they should be, measured by British income levels.

"Even allowing for government schemes, the bank of Mum and Dad, [fewer] planning restrictions, low property taxation and all the other factors supporting prices, it is hard to imagine they can do anything other than decline in real terms in the years ahead."

Bdaily: "Are car parks hurting the high street?"

Link to web site

"Car parks that overcharge drivers are damaging footfall on their nearby high streets, say two prominent bodies.

"A study undertaken by the Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) and the British Parking Association (BPA) suggests that car parks in mid-range and smaller centres are overcharging for spaces.

"The report used data on footfall, spend and centre quality to group locations and assess their relationship to the quantity of spaces and the cost of parking for the first two hours."

"The Man Who Tried to Change the Soul of Paris" (as opposed to the &£%@# Brent Cross Living Bridge)

Link to 'The Atlantic Cities' web site

"Forty years ago, Holley’s residential towers called Olympiades were the pièce de resistance of the city’s biggest renovation in over a century. Holley drew inspiration from Le Corbusier, who famously envisioned Paris as gridded, severe high-rises. Today, the towers sway between vitality and decay. Holley, who also worked on Montparnasse Tower and the Front de Seine, led controversial, sweeping projects to accommodate immigrants, baby boomers, and cars in 1960s Paris:

"I dreamed a lot, in those days. These were inventions and creations in advance of their time, and I dreamed a lot, and I realized my dreams, realized my utopias."

"The eight high-rises of Olympiades house more than 11,000 people, and stand on a massive concrete slab, 26 feet above the ground. Holley’s idea was to separate functions of this city-within-a-city, sorting spaces to walk, shop, and drive on different levels.

"Early on, however, newspapers raised alarm when citizens were evicted, and their homes razed for the renovation of the 13th. These were the first large projects in the city’s history carried out by private developers, not the government, which caused distrust." [We know the feeling.]

"Then, the Olympiades developers ran out of money." [Yep, we know the feeling.]

Mon 18 Mar: "Passivhaus"

Click above for Wikipedia, or passivhaus web site

"Sustainability standards like BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes are environmental assessment methodologies; they are tools to assess and improve the environmental performance of buildings on a more holistic level than Passivhaus. They include, for example, consideration of the materials used in construction, water consumption of the building, provision of recycling bins, etc.

"Passivhaus is concerned with energy efficiency, which of course is a very important part of creating sustainable buildings, along with the comfort of occupants.  Passivhaus and BREEAM or the Code are complimentary, a Passivhaus that also addresses the wider sustainability issues in BREEAM or the Code may also achieve a rating under these schemes.

"Likewise, Passivhaus is a very good place to start, when setting out to attain the higher level ratings."

London Councils: "Pedestrians spend more money in town centres than motorists"

Link to web site

"The range of shops and services in a town centre is more important to visitors than whether they have to pay to park there, according to new research.

"London Councils commissioned consultancy The Means to review previous research done about the impact of parking and parking charges on town centres.

"Their report, The Relevance of Parking in the Success of Urban Town Centres, looks at whether there is a link between free or cheap parking and the amount of commercial activity at town centres across London."

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Link to TfL and others (2010 report):
"Delivering the benefits
of cycling in Outer London"

"This is an exciting time for cycling. It is at the heart of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS) and some London boroughs are already leading the way by improving conditions for cycling and promoting its benefits.

"Outer London has a key role to play and is poised to reap the benefits of increased cycling. These include less congestion, cleaner air, healthier communities, and the economic benefits of more people making local journeys by bike.

"This report is based on a programme of research and aimed at those who set the priority for transport in local areas. By learning from pioneering cycling innovations, and drawing on the greater flexibility in local funding available in the new Local Implementation Plan (LIP) process, Outer London boroughs are in a better position than ever before to encourage people to get on their bikes and to make cycling a mainstream mode of transport and part of the local economy."

road.cc: "Slowing traffic speeds and properly separating cycle lanes result in..." [wait for it...] "fewer cyclists hurt on roads"

"Painted-on cycle lanes in the road had virtually no effect on cyclist injury"

Link to web site

"A programme of slowing traffic and separating bicycles in their own lanes are effective ways of reducing the number of cyclists being injured on the roads, a study has shown.

"Research at the Ryerson University in Canada, the biggest to be undertaken in the country, saw 690 cyclists who were injured in downtown Toronto and Vancouver between May 2008 and November 2009 being interviewed by researchers."

Siemens: "Isabel Dedring, Boris's deputy for transport, speaks about London infrastructure"

Link to web site

"What are the priorities for public transport in London over the next twenty years?

"The biggest priorities for us are increasing capacity and improving reliability, while ensuring a customer-focused approach in thinking about journeys."

How do you plan to get there?

"First, by upgrading the existing network. This means new trains, new signalling systems, replaced track. But interestingly, delivering capacity and reliability is not just about capital investments in existing stations, track and rolling stock. You can also get both capacity and reliability from how intelligently and efficiently you operate the system. IT can play an important role here, along with organisational culture.

Beyond that we are also building new rail links. For example the extension of the Northern Line to Battersea. And Crossrail, a West-East link that will take a lot of strain from the Tube system. In total the upgrades and new rail links will increase London's rail capacity by over 50 percent. This is particularly necessary given that the latest UK census shows that the rate of growth of London’s population is far outstripping projections."

---

(Siemens is supplying the fleet of new trains for the expanded Thameslink line, and presumably will tender for Crossrail trains as well.)

"You Are Where You Eat: Re-Focusing Communities Around Markets" - and other Placemaking postings...

Link to PPS: 'Placemaking blog'

"2012 was a big year in general here at PPS—and the same was true for the Placemaking Blog! We’ve had a blast communicating with Placemakers around the world through our blog, as well as through Facebook and Twitter. 

"And so, on a reflective note, we thought we’d put together a round-up of our top posts from the past year, organized by popularity. See anything you missed??"

"Elephant and Castle regeneration: what are the rights and wrongs?"

Link to The Guardian

"... Southwark's leader Peter John acknowledges that the regeneration plan as a whole will produce losers as well as winners among the area's poorer residents and others further afield as the inevitable rises in private sector rents and the general cost of living that happens when any neighbourhood moves upmarket take effect.

"However, the council is adamant that estates like the Heygate, dominated by social housing of an unfashionable kind, are bad for the people living there as well as for the wider community. And at the same time John insists that is mindful that regeneration has to benefit the existing elephant and Castle population. "We have to make sure that doesn't just mean new buildings with new people," he told London SE1 last year, "but new buildings with Southwark residents benefiting from the jobs and opportunities that come from that."

So if Peter John's approach is wrong, along with those of other London boroughs, Labour and Tory-led alike offering variations on essentially the same theme, what are the better, practical alternatives for improving neighbourhoods and London's supply of new and better homes? If there are trade-offs to be made, and balances to be struck, which priorities should prevail?

"In a time of government cuts and market downturn, who has a better bunch of ideas? These, it seems to me, are big and difficult questions. I'd love to have some big and clever answers. Can you help?"

NewStart: "A history lesson in the future prosperity of our cities"

"Global economic change affected the growth paths of all cities over the course of the twentieth century. Some more than others. For some cities the legacy of the past still overshadows their economies today. 

"But the story of change in urban Britain also teaches us that cities are not prisoners of their past. The right investments can lead to big pay offs in the future.

"Centre for Cities’ new report, Cities Outlook 1901, explores the evolution of cities across Britain since the turn of the 20th century. It reveals how and why cities have changed over the long run to inform policy for the future."

---

Link to 'NewStart':
"East London:
Who’s gained from its growth?"

"New data maps the rapid growth in east London since 2001.
But with evidence that gentrification is pushing marginalised people
to the outskirts, who has gained from the millions of pounds
spent regenerating the area?"

From 22 Feb: "The Road: A Story of Life and Death" (The A5, where Hammerson has permission from Barnet for a waste incinerator)

"Showing at the Tricycle Cinema from 22 February 2013.

"The film looks at the fortunes of people who have come from different parts of the world to live and work on or near the A5, of which Cricklewood Broadway forms a part. Filming is done in locations in Kilburn, at the Sir Colin Campbell pub and Marriot Hotel, and in Cricklewood, at Pedro's Cafe, The Lucky Seven, Beacon Bingo, and Cricklewood Homeless Concern."

Retail Gazette: "Small shops set out high street fears"

Link to web site

"The Government must incentivise small business entry to the high street in order to spur growth, MPs have warned.

"According to the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group (APPSSG), small shop owners are increasingly concerned over business rate increases and changes to planning and regulation policy and the Government ought to offer reassurance on these issues.

"Priti Patel, Conservative MP for Witham and Chair of the APPSSG, said:

"Small shops are the lifeblood of high streets across the country and the Government has a role to play in mitigating the increasing overhead costs that weigh down their businesses."

PPS: "What is Placemaking?"

“’Placemaking’ is both an overarching idea and a hands-on tool for improving a neighborhood, city or region. It has the potential to be one of the most transformative ideas of this century.”

-Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago

Link to
'Project for Public Spaces' web site

"Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Put simply, it involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work and play in a particular space, to discover their needs and aspirations. 

"This information is then used to create a common vision for that place. The vision can evolve quickly into an implementation strategy, beginning with small-scale, do-able improvements that can immediately bring benefits to public spaces and the people who use them.

"Placemaking capitalizes on a local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, ultimately creating good public spaces that promote people’s health, happiness, and well being. When we asked visitors to pps.org what Placemaking means to them, responses suggested that this process is essential–even sacred–to people who truly care about the places in their lives.

"Experience has shown us that when developers and planners welcome as much grassroots involvement as possible, they spare themselves a lot of headaches. Common problems like traffic-dominated streets, little-used parks, and isolated, underperforming development projects can be avoided by embracing the Placemaking perspective that views a place in its entirety, rather than zeroing in on isolated fragments of the whole."
[Hammerson and Barnet do not seem to care about anything beyond the property profits to be made.]