ARUP: "World-leading cities of the future will have to embrace the humble bicycle if they want to get ahead of the pack"

Link to Manchester Evening News

"That is the view of Mark Watts, director of multinational design firm Arup and a leading expert on sustainable planning.

"Mr Watts told the MIPIM property conference in Cannes that cities faced unprecedented challenges - with the population soaring, and human beings now consuming more natural resources than the earth was able to replace.

"But he said there were enough examples of smart, green thinking throughout the world to make him optimistic about the future.

"Mr Watts outlined a model 'future city' investing heavily in cycling, electric buses, energy-generating buildings and urban farms. And he said that ecologically sound policies adopted throughout the world had often been adopted for economic, rather than environmental, reasons."

---

Link to Cycling In The City
web site

"Earlier this week, the industrial giant Siemens published a report written by Professor David Begg who is, among many other things, publisher of Transport Times - a UK trade magazine for transport professionals. It's the sort of thing that talks about rail networks, road infrastructure, government policy.

"Siemens's report is entitled 'London’s Transport: Progress and Future Challenges' and it has a lot to say about cycling. Most noticeably, it has this to say:

"If [Boris Johnson] wants to go down in history as one of the world’s great radical Mayors then he must make bold decisions on how he wants to allocate road space. The litmus test will be how he responds to his Roads Task Force which will report shortly. If he wants to make London a city which is more associated with walking and cycling, with an urban realm to be proud of, then he needs to support a roads hierarchy whereby walking, cycling and buses are prioritised over cars at appropriate locations."

AtlanticCities: "A Brief History of Suburbia's Rise and Fall"

"The suburb has a claim to being one of the most successful and least loved inventions of the modern era.

"Many intellectuals, being city people at heart, find the suburb a hard place to love."

Link to web site

"So writes city historian Graeme Davison of Monash University, in Australia, in a recent issue of the Journal of Urban History. Davison goes on to chronicle a brief though rather complete rise and fall of the suburban lifestyle. Concentrating on England, but drawing support from the United States and Australia, Davison tracks suburbia from its ideological roots in the Victorian era, to its harsh detractors in the present.

" 'Like a hardy hybrid, the suburban idea has flourished even in environments remote from its origins, and outlived most of the criticisms hurled against it,' he writes."

PPS: "Stronger Citizens, Stronger Cities: Changing Governance Through a Focus on Place" (better than a new out-of-town Brent Cross cinema)

Link to web site

"As the link between bustling public spaces and economic development has grown stronger, some [US] government officials have started advocating for change in this arena. 

"After so many decades of top-down thinking, the learning curve is steep, and many officials are trying to solve human problems with design solutions. But a new citizen-centered model has also begun to emerge, that we’ve come to call Place Governance.

In Place Governance, officials endeavor to draw more people into the civic decision-making process. When dealing with a dysfunctional street, for instance, answers aren’t only sought from transportation engineers—they’re sought from merchants who own businesses along the street, non-profit organizations working in the surrounding community, teachers and administrators at the school where buses queue, etc. The fundamental actors in a Place Governance structure are not official agencies that deal with specific slices of the pie, but the people who use the area in question and are most intimately acquainted with its challenges.

Officials who strive to implement this type of governance structure do so because they understand that the best solutions don’t come from within narrow disciplines, but from the points where people of different backgrounds come together.

The Guardian: "High street sees rise in number of shoppers"

Link to web site

"Britons are shunning out-of-town shopping centres and returning to the high street, according to a new report. The British Retail Consortium and Springboard said the number of shoppers on the high street rose by 2.7% last month compared with February 2012, while shoppers in out-of-town locations dropped by 1.5% and in shopping centres by 1.6%.

"Diane Wehrle, research director at Springboard, said:

"For the high street, one swallow does not make a summer, but these results might hint at the green shoots of recovery, or at least some stabilisation in the current environment."

CyclistsInTheCity: "Transport for London admits that investing in cycling makes transport cheaper and more efficient"

Link to web site

"This [new TfL] business model has been the norm for decades in countries like Denmark and the Netherlands. In both, they invest in cycling because it makes economic sense. And it does that because they account for cycling properly: The Cycling Embassy of Denmark pointed out last year that the country 'saves approximately £0.30 per cycled compared to per driven kilometre'.

"If you base your business case on that sort of statistic, then investment in cycling flows just like any other transport investment, not as a sort of unloved last minute add-on. If, as in the UK until now, you base your business case on short-term benefits and disbenefits that don't count cycling properly, you get virtually no investment in cycling.

"What you get when you do the maths properly is something that looks and feels very different to the UK, where we design our transport systems based on flawed business case models."

Sunday Express: "Crisis as we all stop shopping" (But what would Diana have done?)

---

Sky News video:
"Artists Find New Use
For Shuttered Shops"

[Reposted] Cricklewood Forum opposes Brent Cross plan (Barnet Times, 14/01/2010)

Vanity Fair: "A Tale of Two Londons"

Link to web site

"The really curious aspect of One Hyde Park can be appreciated only at night. Walk past the complex then, and you notice nearly every window is dark. As John Arlidge wrote in The Sunday Times:

“It’s dark. Not just a bit dark—darker, say, than the surrounding buildings—but black dark. Only the odd light is on. . . . Seems like nobody’s home.”

"That’s not because the apartments haven’t sold. London land-registry records say that 76 had been by January 2013 for a total of $2.7 billion—but, of these, only 12 were registered in the names of warm-blooded humans, including Christian Candy, in a sixth-floor penthouse. The remaining 64 are held in the names of unfamiliar corporations: three based in London; one, called One Unique L.L.C., in California; and one, Smooth E Co., in Thailand.

"The other 59—with such names as Giant Bloom International Limited, Rose of Sharon 7 Limited, and Stag Holdings Limited—belong to corporations registered in well-known offshore tax havens, such as the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein, and the Isle of Man.

[Brent Cross's Hammerson has its employee share scheme administered from an off-shore tax haven. Hammerson has also jointly developed part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood redevelopment site with a company based in another off-shore tax haven. 

In addition, 'Clean Power Properties Ltd.', an off-shore tax-haven company, has stated its intention to build a waste incinerator at Brent Cross Cricklewood, in association with Network Rail. It might well have noticed the so-far-unbuilt Hammerson Brent Cross waste incinerator, for which Barnet council granted planning permission in 2009.

Just saying.]

"From this we can conclude at least two things with certainty about the tenants of One Hyde Park: they are extremely wealthy, and most of them don’t want you to know who they are and how they got their money."

ACS: "Help support and achieve diverse and healthy local centres"

Link to 'Association of Convenience Stores'

"This guide has been produced by ACS to help local businesses, communities and councils understand how town planning can be used to help support and achieve diverse and healthy local centres, which are at the hearts of their communities.

"It sets out practical guidance on how and when to get involved with shaping and influencing the planning policies and decisions which affect local centres, now and in the future. The document also assists understanding on how the range of ‘planning tools’ available can be used to positively support town centres."

"The ghosts of 2012 have faded but new life is flooding into the Olympic Park"

Link to Evening Standard

"... Olympic Park — the focal point of the event — was off limits to the public within hours of the end of the Paralympic closing ceremony.

"Many felt that Boris Johnson, by allowing the gates to be padlocked, surrendered to the demands of engineers and project managers to have the whole site back for conversion work. The feelg-ood factor had been unnecessarily snuffed out, it was claimed.

"This week, the Evening Standard took a tour to check on progress of the £6-billion makeover of the Lower Lea Valley, and learn of the Mayor’s plans to connect the Games site to the residents who have been promised so much."

[Reposted from 2012, before Hammerson's surrender] CROYDON WHITGIFT: Hammerson's Titantic against Westfield's Iceberg (or the other way round)

 (click above)

Hammerson produces a soaring golden eagle
of a 'fly-through animation' video,
for its Croydon Whitgift development.

(It has never released its dead-pigeon fly-through
of its Brent Cross disaster.)

"HAMMERSON REVEALS PLANS FOR WHITGIFT QUARTER"

11 September 2012

"Residents and businesses of Croydon are invited to a week-long exhibition to view the emerging proposals for Whitgift Quarter.

"Whitgift Quarter will bring together a redeveloped Whitgift Centre together [sic] with North End and Centrale to transform the centre of Croydon with retail, restaurants and new homes. The development will provide in the region of 5,000 permanent retail and leisure jobs for local people.

"Robin Dobson, Hammerson Director for Retail Development said:

"We’ve spent many months working on our plans, and listening to local people’s views about what they want to see from the redevelopment of Croydon. But there’s still time for more people’s views to be heard, and this exhibition, and the launch of the Whitgift Quarter website, is an important part ensuring the scheme meets the needs of people who live and work in the town.

We very much hope that as many people as possible will be able to come and see the emerging plans. Representatives from the project team will be on hand to explain the scheme, talk to members of the public and answer any questions."

The public exhibition is being held at Centrale, in the North End Mall, adjacent to Café Giardino, which will be open from Mon 10 to Sat 15 Sept, from 10am to 5pm.

An additional exhibition will also be in North End, in between Centrale and The Whitgift Centre on:

Wed 12 Sept, 10am-5pm
Thurs 13 Sept, 12pm-8pm
Fri 14 Sept, 10am-5pm
Sat 15 Sept, 10am-5pm.

A website has also been launched [above] where local people can find out more, and provide feedback on the proposals at www.whitgiftquartercroydon.co.uk

Contacts:

Catrin Morgan, Hammerson 

0207 887 1063
Tim Danaher, Brunswick Group

[not London Communications Agency, then!]

0207 404 5959

---

What Hammerson says on this new web site, about itself:

"Hammerson has been creating and managing some of the most exciting retail destinations for over 60 years.

"Our complex regeneration projects have delivered landmark architecture and thousands of new jobs helping our retail occupiers and local communities to thrive.

"We have a strong track record of successful partnerships with local authorities, landowners and developers.

"We have a well-earned reputation for delivering exceptional schemes, notably Bullring in Birmingham, the Oracle in Reading and Brent Cross in North London."

[We agree - Hammerson has a VERY WELL-EARNED REPUTATION regarding Brent Cross in North London.]

"THE TEAM"

"Plans for Whitgift Quarter are being developed by the Croydon Alliance – a new partnership of leading property owners in Croydon, who are looking at how Croydon town centre can be transformed. The Croydon Alliance members are Royal London Asset Management, IBRC Assurance Company and Hammerson, - which between them own 75% of the Whitgift Centre and 100% of Centrale.

"Hammerson is the lead developer for the proposals, supported by the following team:

• Urban Splash – Residential Developer
• Farrells – Masterplanners
• RTKL – Retail specialists."

---

[Rival Westfield (below) is supported by the Whitgift Foundation, as freeholder and 25% leaseholder of the Whitgift Centre.]

Link to the Alternative World of
Westfield
(no fly-through yet, though)

---

So which is it going to be?

Which is the Titanic, and which is the Iceberg?

---

Avoiding Corruption in Croydon:

The Atlantic: "A Conversation With Fred Kent, Leader in Revitalizing City Spaces"

Link to web site

"For someone who makes a living revitalizing city spaces, Fred Kent has an interesting take on professional urban designers: he thinks they're overrated.

"The real urban design experts, he says, are the ordinary people who actually live and work within a community. And with his nonprofit organization, Project for Public Spaces (PPS), Kent is doing his best to empower them.

"Founded in 1975, Project for Public Spaces helps community members design, plan, and manage public spaces by considering their own needs and values. Kent calls this process Placemaking, and he has used it to transform popular landmarks around the world, including Detroit's historic Eastern Market, Houston's Discovery Green park, and New York City's Times Square.

"Here, he discusses the difference between Placemaking and traditional design, how public spaces can foster stronger communities, and why ordinary people make the best urban planners."

Brent Cross's Hammerson has connections with Off-shore Tax Havens - so here's a video just for you

The Barnet Cycling Superhighway

(Click to enlarge)

Watch the video on

The Blog Formerly Known as Barnet Bugle

"Councillors for hire who give firms planning advice"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Councillors across the country are offering themselves for hire to property developers who are hoping to take advantage of relaxed planning laws which come into effect within weeks, a Daily Telegraph investigation reveals on Monday.

"Local government politicians are trading on their inside knowledge of the planning system to receive fees of up to £20,000 for advice on how to get developments approved, it can be disclosed.

"Despite apparently creating the potential for a conflict of interest, it is not illegal for councillors to work as paid consultants. Councils are expected to face an increase in applications for building when new planning laws take effect at the end of this month."

[Reposted from Apr 2012] London Communications Agency: "All the News that's Fit to Print! (except we won't, because we're a PR company)"

"London Communications Agency (LCA) are an award-winning specialist consultancy, focusing on London and London issues. Using our knowledge, expertise and insight, LCA bring you the latest on all the top London issues of the day." 

Plenty of London news!

For instance, as shown by the red arrows in the screen-print above, there is LCA news of a by-election result in Brent:

Link to LCA web site
[Feb 2013: Brent Town Hall is being sold,
to become a French secondary school]

"The Liberal Democrats retained their council seat in the Dollis Hill by-election held in the London borough of Brent.

Alison Hopkins won the seat with 1,205 votes, beating Labour candidate Parvez Ahmed by just 37 votes. 

Hopkins is a well-know local campaigner and has lived in Dollis Hill for over 55 years. Most recently she has been fighting the council plans to close half the libraries in the borough and the slashing of the borough’s street cleaning budget."

---

Strangely, there is no mention of Alison's long-standing campaigning against Barnet's and Hammerson's Brent Cross Cricklewood development!

Numerous on-line references have been available, all ignored by London Communications Agency, and details are repeated in this latest LibDem article:

New LibDem Councillor Alison Hopkins
(2nd from right) campaigning
 with Sarah Teather MP and 
Baroness Ludford MEP

"Local campaigner Alison Hopkins has become Brent's newest councillor, after winning the by-election in Dollis Hill. The Liberal Democrat candidate triumphed by 37 votes in the highly marginal ward.

"Alison is also one of the founding members of the Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Regeneration, a campaign group that has worked with Brent Central MP Sarah Teather to fight Barnet's plans to build a massive rubbish dump on the doorstep of Dollis Hill." [And other aspects of the scheme.]

---

And WHY isn't 'campaigning against Brent Cross Cricklewood' mentioned by London Communications Agency in its 'London News'?

Oh, because (see yellow arrow below) the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers are clients of London Communications Agency, of course!

---

As a Brent Councillor, Alison joins existing Brent Cross Coalition member, Labour Councillor Shafique Choudhary.

Councillor Alison Hopkins, who lives in Dollis Hill, says:

“I’m so grateful to the people of Dollis Hill for their support, and for electing me to Brent Council. I have actively opposed the damaging and misguided Brent Cross Cricklewood Regeneration scheme for years. I will go on fighting to stop the current plans ever being implemented. My predecessor, the late Alec Castle, strongly believed the plans would destroy our community, and I totally agree with that view. The massive waste dump and disastrous road changes must be stopped. The scheme should be about people, with improved public transport and decent housing, not just yet more shops.”

Councillor Shafique Choudhary, who lives in Cricklewood, says:

“We are disappointed that our excellent Labour candidate narrowly failed to win the Dollis Hill seat last Thursday. The Liberal Democrats will need to work hard to stop us taking it next time. Nevertheless, I welcome Alison to the Council, and we will work together to stop the Brent Cross plan, on which Barnet Council completely failed to consult properly, here in the neighbouring borough of Brent.”

---

Link to HOME (see all posts).

CyclistsInTheCity: " 'Quietways': If you want to know what Boris's cycling plans for London look like, take a look at what's rolling out right now in Camden, Hackney and the City of London"

Link to web site

"I've cycled around Fitzrovia a lot recently, and been hugely impressed by the work Camden has rolled out. The area takes up most of the block north of Oxford Street and west of Tottenham Court Road, as far as Great Portland Street, where car domination courtesy of Westminster council kicks in. Across the entire zone, the council employed a number of strategies.

"It has removed several traffic lights and replaced these with zebra crossings on speed tables. This makes it easier for motor vehicles to get through without constant stop-starting. And it makes it easier to cross the road as the cars are going more slowly and you don't have to wait for a green man to cross the road."

"... [But] what also needs to happen is that Transport for London needs to work with the boroughs to alleviate obstacles on these Quietway routes. The routes all too often become unstuck when they reach a main road."

Sunday Times: "Osborne pushed to back building spree"

Link to web site (& pay-wall)

"BUSINESSES will call this week for the government to underwrite billions of pounds of infrastructure investment, amid evidence that its existing schemes have 'failed'.

"The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents more than 100,000 firms, will tomorrow back the coalition’s austerity plans, but call for the chancellor to do far more to encourage private sector investment.

"George Osborne is coming under intense pressure to unveil bold measures in next week’s budget after the latest data showed that the economy is still struggling to emerge from the downturn. Output from the construction sector fell 6.3% in January, and is still 7.9% lower than a year ago."

High-rise London, and the LCC Architects

Link to 'Utopia London'

"... The London County Council Housing Division was tackling exactly the issues I was interested in, so I applied and was interviewed by Oliver Cox, (part of the Alton East design team). It was a great learning period for me, as I could go around visiting the different groups and talk about different ideas.

"There was a policy of repeating blocks, and I worked on a repeat of the Bentham road block, but I was unhappy with these mini-Corb designs that were fine in open country, but were out of place in the tight urban context of inner London.

"I then designed a scheme for a triangular site in Whitechapel, with a point block at the point of the site and a group of houses fitted into the complex centre of the site. They were the only two-storey houses with gardens built in inner London at that time."

"Boris Johnson's cycling plan is great – but we'll still need to ride tough"

Link to The Guardian

"Mayor Boris Johnson has just announced ambitious plans for the "de-Lycra-fication" of London. As part of his drive to get more people on bicycles and make the capital less intimidating for new and existing cyclists, he's promising lanes on landmark roads such as the Westway, a redesign of several notorious junctions and "Quietways" through residential areas. 

"It all sounds great and with luck will catch on across the country. Up above the city, cruising magnificently past Paddington and stationary cars, cycling could once more become a thing of joy. Commutes reduced from hours to minutes, generations of children pedalling to school unmown by rogue HGVs.

"As Johnson points out, what stops many people from cycling in London is fear. Entirely legitimate fear, since you can be quicker than Wiggo and lit like the Heathrow runway, but if you're not intimidated by playing in the traffic around Vauxhall Cross or Elephant and Castle, then there's something very wrong with your adrenals."

[Reposted] "London: We'll be nine million by 2020, a new borough every three years"

Link to Evening Standard

"Within the next 10 years London’s population will pass its 1939 all-time high of 8.6 million — and march remorselessly on towards the nine million mark, making us the first city in Europe to hit this figure and putting us ahead of New York.

"...With this number of people needing to be housed, heated and moved around, London planners have been forced to think radically, about how the capital’s already struggling networks will cope with more people — equivalent to adding a new borough every three years.

"... Perhaps the biggest worry is how London’s already creaking transport networks will cope. The capital is already Europe’s most congested city, and five of the UK’s worst congestion hotspots are in the capital. A population of nine million will mean around 27 million trips a day being made in London.

"Even if all the funded infrastructure improvements — a list headed by Crossrail — are completed, delays will increase by 14 per cent, according to a report for the London Assembly.

"More of us will live in the outer suburbs, according to Yolande Barnes, director of residential research at Savills. She believes that nothing less than a radical rethink of the London suburbs — urbanising the leafy Metro-land — will solve the crisis. She says:

"The challenge is building a Birmingham in the outer suburbs, which are surprisingly low-density for such a big city. They could accommodate a lot of people if they took on more of the characteristics of inner London."

---

"LONDON DISTRICTS RIPE FOR A POPULATION BOOM"

"For the Mayor's chief of staff Sir Edward Lister, the key to housing London is making sure the major brownfield sites around the capital, which could absorb much of the population grwoth, are fully developed.

"These sites include:

• Nine Elms
• King's Cross
• White City
• the Olympic Park
• Croydon
• Elephant & Castle
• Old Oak Common
• the London Quarter around the Shard, at London Bridge.
  
  [No mention of Brent Cross Cricklewood, you'll notice!]

"The London Plan also identifies nine areas ripe for 'intensification', as better transport links bring them closer to central London. These include areas such as Colliers Wood and West Hampstead."

"Hendon MP Matthew Offord gives backing to people living on 'uninhabitable' estate"

Link to Barnet Times

"Residents of a dilapidated council estate set for major regeneration are being left to live in 'uninhabitable' conditions, according to an MP.

"Matthew Offord has pledged to put pressure on Barnet Council and developers in charge of the West Hendon regeneration [originally part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration area] to sort out the 'big problem'.

"Council leader Richard Cornelius said:

"Getting these major regeneration schemes going is real challenge in the deep recession we have had. But as our proposals for the regeneration of Dollis Valley show, this can be done."

---

[Reposted] Video: Memories of Cricklewood [Brent Cross South] 1911-1925

"Arthur was born at 27 Olive Road in 1911, and lived there until his mid-teens before emigrating to Australia. His daughter Sue kindly shared part of Arthur's journal, where he'd recalled his childhood years living in Cricklewood. This video has those memories narrated, along with historical photos from Brent Archive's incredibly brilliant online catalogue http://brent.adlibsoft.com/ (you could spend hours lost in it, it's amazing). It was made for the Olive Road Jubilee street party."

Until Fri 22 March: "The Open Office: a drop-in centre for neighbourhood planning"

Link to The Guardian

"Even to many planners, the finer points of neighbourhood planning remain a mystery.

"A new project at London's Architecture Foundation, masterminded by young architecture practice We Made That, aims to tackle this problem, and put the workings of localism on public show for all to explore – and take part in.

"Holly Lewis, co-director of the practice with Oliver Goodhall, said:

"We were fascinated by the fact that communities were being given the power to write their own future, and yet they weren't being shown how to do it. The built environment professions haven't traditionally been very open or communicative, and people aren't really taught about planning at school or on TV – it's a very murky process. You may be familiar with house extensions, but the idea of being able to write policy is completely alien."

"The Open Office, which will run until 20 March at the Architecture Foundation's street-fronting gallery in Southwark, is conceived as a live project space, part "Citizens Urban Advice Bureau", part functioning practice. 

"Staffed by We Made That, along with a changing group of six to eight volunteers, the team will explore different case study areas on a week-by-week basis – from the emerging neighbourhood plan for Hackney's Chatsworth Road, to Croydon town centre and the Southall industrial area.

"Oliver Wainwright will be chairing the final session, Learning from The Open Office, on Wednesday 20 March, from 7pm, at the Architecture Foundation."

Link to The Architecture Foundation

"We Made That – The Open Office"

Until 22 March 2013

Tues – Sat, 12 – 6pm

Weekly Daytime Events:

"The Open Office will be running weekly research projects that will culminate in Friday lunch-time presentations hosted in The AF Project Space.

"All Friday Pin Up events are free and open to all (no need to RSVP). Space is limited however, and the events will operate on a first come, first served basis."

Week 4 (12 - 16 March)

Study area: Somerstown neighbourhood
Key question: "Given its reliance on volunteers, how can neighbourhood planning be truly representative?"
Friday Pin Up: Friday 15 March, 12.30 - 1.30pm

Week 5 (19 - 22 March)

Study area: Southall industrial area
Key question: "How can neighbourhood planning support diverse economies?"
Friday Pin Up: Friday 22 March, 12.30 - 1.30pm

Additional events: (click for details)

Michelle Provoost:
'No such thing as Community?'
Wed 13 March 2013, 7pm

'We Made That: Learning from The Open Office'
chaired by Oliver Wainwright
Wed 20 March 2013, 7pm

Urban Pioneers

"The Architecture Foundation's Urban Pioneers education programme engages teams of 16-19 year olds in areas of cities undergoing dramatic change. Young people are empowered to critically explore the transformations happening around them and develop new skills through a series of workshops with professionals including architects, engineers, film makers, artists, designers and writers."

Croydon Urban Pioneers
January - May 2013

"The Architecture Foundation's Urban Pioneers programme is to going south for the winter, to Croydon. We will be running a series of creative workshops with architects, artists and designers to examine the built environment, and will be recruiting 10 young people from the London Borough of Croydon.

"If you would like more information, please contact The Architecture Foundation's Education Manager, Tom Keeley.

"The Urban Pioneers Programme is sponsored by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, with additional sponsorship for the Croydon Urban Pioneers from Westfield and [yikes!] Hammerson."

Daily Telegraph: "London property – the ultimate investment?"

Link to web site

"Is investing in property in London the nearest thing you can get to a safe bet? Property prices in the capital keep rising, despite wider problems in the housing market.

"In fact the gap between property values in the capital and in the rest of the country is now wider than ever, according to new data from estate agents Savills."

Thurs 21 March: "The Future Of Transport In Finchley"

Join us for a Future Of Transport In Finchley discussion evening at Avenue House. We have invited a panel of experts to field your questions and stimulate a lively debate on all aspects of local travel. The motor car is often regarded as an indispensable accoutrement of modern living. But is it so absolutely necessary? And what is the true cost?

"We now have over 150,000 cars in the borough, more than 10 times the number we had 50 years ago. Our once practically empty roads are now jam packed and fume filled, pollution is at dangerously high levels and priority has been given to motor traffic at all costs. As roads have expanded, greenery has disappeared.But what about more sustainable forms of transport? Are we here in Finchley doing enough?

Have we joined the Mayor’s ‘Cycling Revolution‘? Could we be walking more? What about new technology like electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells? Are we planning a public transport infrastructure for future generations? Is the Council doing enough for sustainable future transport?

If you have any views or questions, please come along for what promises to be an interesting and stimulating discussion evening. Please submit questions in writing by March 15th.

For more details: 020 8346 5503 or Email: mikegee1968@gmail.com

Tues 12 March: Living Streets: "Talk with Sir Terry Farrell: Creating a better Westminster for pedestrians"

"Westminster contains some of the UK’s most iconic streets and public spaces.  It also suffers from some of the UK’s worst congestion and highest pedestrian casualty statistics.

"On Tuesday, 12 March 2013, Living Streets is partnering with Movement for Liveable London to discuss what can be done to make Westminster a better place for pedestrians and launch our new Westminster Living Streets Group.

"We’ll be joined by Living Streets CEO Tony Armstrong, Cllr Ed Argar of Westminster council, and our keynote speaker, architect Sir Terry Farrell."

Planning visionary

"Sir Terry is one of the world’s foremost urban planners and architects, who will be sharing his vision for a more people friendly Westminster.

"During 40 years in practice, he has transformed London’s skyline and animated the banks of the Thames with his Charing Cross and MI6 headquarters buildings.

"It is, though, through his long-term involvement in the region’s urban planning – through specific projects, as well as through advocacy and initiating public debate – that Sir Terry has made his greatest contribution. He is currently the government champion for the planning of the Thames Gateway and advises the Mayor of London on his Design Advisory Committee."

Where and when

Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Terry Farrell and Partners
7 Hatton Street
London NW8 8PL

Please join us from 6.30pm for 7pm.
No bookings are required. But if you would like to know more about this event, please contact Tom Platt at Living Streets – tom.platt@livingstreets.org.uk

"The sad tale of a cycle network innovator forgotten by the New Town he built"

Link to 'RoadsWereNotBuiltForCars'

• Wide, smooth cycleways adjacent to main roads but separated from cars and pedestrians
• Perpetually-lit, airy, safe underpasses beneath roundabouts
• Direct, convenient and attractive cycle routes designed not by car-centric town planners but by a transport engineer who cycled to work every day
• Priority given to cyclists at intersections
• Schools, workplaces, shops: all linked by protected cycleways
• Recreational bike paths to nature areas
• Colour-coded sign-posting
• Plentiful cycle parking in the town centre and at the rail station
• An urban cycle network lionised at global conferences and the subject of lectures, books and magazine articles.

Amsterdam? Copenhagen? Groningen?
No. Stevenage.

[Reposted] Dreams and nightmares

Brent Cross plan:
"A 'free-flowing' junction of the M1 with
the North Circular was considered."
(Above is a 1960s Glasgow plan:
"the Townhead Interchange (built) and
Eastern Flank [unbuilt] which would have severed
Glasgow Cathedral from the the rest of the city")

Brent Cross's Hammerson:
"We'll have some of this!"

Part of the collapsed car-based
Brent Cross scheme

"Dead in the Water" - Mayor Boris Johnson,
a month after saying: "It has great potential"