I picked up this book at the Whitechapel Gallery bookstore the other day. Still reading it but find it pretty fascinating as a number of the points of discussion are focused on the rapid developments in Dalston area as Hackney is one of the host boroughs for the Olympics next year. Admittedly I am biased towards it as I have a particular fondness about Dalston, having once lived on Shacklewell Lane in the past.
"149, to, Edmonton green"
That said, I was glad this time around to see that Dalston still generally looks pretty much the same to me after two years of not being there. And the new tube line is most excellent, taking us to South London in a jiffy! When I saw that advertisements were selling the studio apartments near Dalston Square were even being advertised back in Singapore on the Straits Times, it was obvious that these new properties were built only as investment options rather than actually expecting people/investors to move there and live in it. Which made me wonder if it was being irrevocably changed...
One of the interesting recurring phrases used in the book is: "Erase, stretch, relinquish" - which describes the sad phenomena of how completely "erasing" a site is often easier than trying to work out a solution which can accommodate all the parties in the decision-making process. After "erasing" the site, the main prerogative of developers would then be to maximise or "stretch" all the aspects of the site, whether it be plot ratio or programming, in order to "stretch" profit margins for all investors involved. Finally, when all the people have made their money and the profit has been rung dry from the land, everyone and the council struggles to explain why everything went pear-shaped but nothing can be done anymore and eventually people in the community "relinquish" or "resign themselves to the fact that their neighbourhood will never be what it could have been."
When I was first in London back in 2007 I was actually excited about having seemingly moved to A REAL CITY, and to be honest, this is also what started my interest in cities, built environments, psychogeography, etc. Not that singapore is any less of an urban city, but, there the buildings are demolished and rebuilt with such alarming rapidity, and the slate is wiped clean so often that any attempts to leave traces or signs in the city prove completely pointless...
Sometime in 2008 I went mad one late night and walked down Kingsland Road leaving little signs of Hulk Dash all along Kingsland Road. A friend found a picture of one of the funny signs I had made (photographed by another user on flickr), and sent it to me.
About three years later, traces of it can still be seen. Aw bless. It is almost like the city still remembers...
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