Discussion: Learning from continuity and change

摘要

The briefing from Lord Roger's lecture to the Bartlett School of Planning (Rogers, 2011) raised some important issues. How true that most politicians have a blind spot when it comes to architecture and urban planning! Moreover the responsibility for overall town planning for London is fragmented between multiple government departments and agencies. There seems to be an absence of a vocal stratum of visionary yet practical planners, engineers and architects, working together, taking a broad view of London's history and future, ready to spot opportunities when they arise and push for change. There is a broad consensus that our ideal city will have a central area of high population density (because this promotes a lively atmosphere and high standard of facilities) with excellent public transport; uninterrupted movement at ground level, with the minimum number of visible vehicles, moving or stationary, and no through-traffic whatsoever. The less is seen of (the outside!) of motor vehicles the better, but marginalising them altogether poses the risk of foregoing the advantages to the standard of living which they confer. The often proposed yet never implemented solution would be to create a system of grade-separated suburban expressways to draw off traffic from narrow city streets and minimise the one-sided conflict between vehicles and pedestrians/cyclists at street level. But where and how should such expressways be built?