#WHOSE MOVES?

The background of this spatial planning idea started with Architectural Review’s #NOTOPIA initiative in 2019 lamenting a (potential) loss of place. We asked why in terms of Regents Canal the city seemed not to be building on what it has already in place, rather than reinventing everything. By doing that we would manage to generate valuable, differentiated, realised pieces of city, #Topias! The postcard showed the river in London, the Thames with the Adelphi project marked & the Regents Canal running from West to South-East.

Now we witness a period of hyper-mobility (& delapidations) which gathers pace.. This is differentiated from picturesque texture or any “cosy” urban grit, it is more a disruptive and chaotic scramble. This is how things are, so many moving parts, some very fast, a lot of work, new & old modes (DIYed carts, scooters, suicidal on-roading) even tuk-tuks. Is this just big city stuff trying to “rub along”?

We see a lot of neglect and simultaneously sustainability thinking is asking us to consider repair and maintenance as existential problems. But this is just inevitable, slow renewal right? You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs… A little more on the topic can be found on the Blogspot:

https://l1abroad.blogspot.com/2024/04/mobility-from-desire-to-disruption.html

*Update 08.’24

Neglect is making itself felt again, not actually with (more) collisions but in terms of bio-diversity. Canal bio-diversity has improved a lot in recent years, but overbright lighting for example is still a problem, as birds get confused and sing into the small hours. Failures of waste management, waste places as well as being straightforwardly unpleasant. At this location there are usually many birds, but those have gone quiet while gulls are dominating. Gulls eat rubbish when available and can be managed by councils. Thankfully we are reaching the end of the breeding season which will mean the screeching & commotion subsides and other birds come back?

*We are working with local authority & a TRA group on #futures, visions.. plans.

*Update 06.’25

It has been a while, somethings are changing.. like a new rubbish collection system thank-you Islington! However graffiti tagging continues to grow (too soon to tell perhaps?). How we move & sometimes waste, remains interesting.

Curious things come to light if we turn urban detective. Animal populations are often distorted in urban contexts…like aggressive seagulls & too many crows, so why would one of the narrow little streets that are used to filter through onto a valued foodie shopping street -Essex Road in Islington, suddenly be rubbish strewn & a pigeon target? Earlier photos show a few bags of rubbish on this corner are common, perhaps from business? However an unlit billboard with a kind of skirt was replaced with a lit one with no skirt, so a warm sheltered roost was created. At higher & lower level there is now encrusted guano..& rubbish of course.

Heavy & heavier traffic means the billboard is desirable, regulation seems quite low on illumination, but pigeons? Who owns the upper level & the billboard rights? A remote landlord, who would care…, who will take action?

A little more mobility oriented wasting -there are solutions (now selling from “Bird Ex”, how much is it worth to you sir?), but left, waste piles on waste, neglect on neglect.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 13th, 2024 at 12:36 pm. It is filed under Community, Other and tagged with #Public Space. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.