Croydon 2012: The Fun And Game Begins
WHY Croydon should want to be a city is overlooked by the Independent, which brings news that the unlovely London suburb wants to be the “new Barcelona”.
The new Barcelona has the old Barcelona, a Mediterranean climate and an airport offering visitors an entry point to a city of decent hotels, culture and style. Croydon has concrete, drizzle and is well placed for Gatwick Airport, from where Britishers escape to places like Barcelona.
But architect Will Alsop has a vision. This is the man who “tried to reinvent Barnsley as a walled Tuscan town”. He is not easily deterred by things like history and geography. The talk is of pod-shaped buildings on stilts (Burma), glass apartments (Guantanamo Bay) and miniature parks (gardens) “inspired by the regeneration of Barcelona after the 1992 Olympics”. Croydon: world city. City of culture.
Far be it from us to point out the massive white elephant in the room, but that bit about the regeneration of Barcelona being triggered by the Olympic Games…
Like those parts of London reinvigorated after London 2012? And this is the same London that is to be linked to lofty Croydon by extending the London Underground’s East London line.
And to the project, dubbed “Third City” – part of Croydon’s attempt to persuade the government to grant it city status.”
Such an audacious bid to instil civic pride will surely be championed by those local politicos with dreams of managing a city and not a town.
Forget the details and hang the cost, and see the Croydonians bursting with pride as they climb aboard the new Tube train on their way to earning a living in…London…
Posted: 13th, November 2007 | In: Broadsheets Comments (4) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
January 25th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
architects and politicians suck
December 4th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
will alsop has not got a clue about the people of croydon or the area. He is just one of these overflated architects with grand visions, complete with buzz words and nice pictures but something is missing…. reality!
I agree with John b, comparing this plan to Barcelona is just crazy and is just a PR ploy to get people excited about the idea of regeneration without realising what it means.
In Barcelona for example people can not afford to live in their homes any longer and have been pushed out… but they have great buildings and public spaces!
hasta luego, Croydon!
November 14th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Hmmm…Croydon is a big and easy target…but it’s funny isn’t it how so few people who make the jokes have ever been there. However it is already a corporate HQ base for a number of national and international firms, and when you strip away some of the admittedly glum 60’s and 70’s concrete you find a huge amount of business being done and people having a good time. OK - there does need to be a change…but why take the proverbial out of people who suggest what those changes might be? London constantly reinvents itself, and there are loads of places that are unrecognisable from 20 or 30 years ago.
South End is already a burgeoning centre for excellent bars and restaurants - and OK, so the TopTable.co.uk people haven’t been brave enough to venture down there much, but that is their loss! House of Fraser is thriving in the new Centrale shopping complex, and the Park Place development at the other end of town will expand the retail offer dramatically. The Clocktower complex puts on some of the best music, comdey, theatre, drama, art and poetry that you are likely to find anywhere, the library has more visits than any other in London, and the museums bring local history to life with quality displays and excellent curation. Outside the centre of town there are acres and acres of well managed and unspoilt green spaces, top quality golf courses, luxury conference centres and hotels…the list goes on!
Ignore the headline-grabbing lazy journalism that grabs onto the Barcelona reference and doesn’t bother to look at the foundations of the Alsop plan. Take the time instead to think about Alsop’s underlying themes…
…bring the river back to the surface and have a series of small lakes and water features built back into the townscape…
…bring green spaces into the town to break up the built architecture and provide pleasant walks and rest spots…
…cut down on through traffic and get more people onto public transport…
…get more people living in the town centre to cut down on travel and provide more affordable homes…
…upgrade the college to a university…
Is there anybody out there who thinks that any of this would be a bad thing?
What is wrong with a town that has aspirations to punch at it’s own weight at last?
I’m not saying that Croydon is perfect - far from it…but that is excatly why this vision is needed and why I for one hope that the investors who are needed to turn it into a reality are not put off by the snide jeers currently coming from the cheap seats!
November 13th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Perhaps they are just bursting with joy at the thought of escaping for a while?
Apropos of nothing, the morning of Diana’s funeral , we had a dog show in Croydon, the place was deserted, took 5 mins to get through, even with the lights, and couldn’t help noticing what a dump it is/was