Wednesday, 03 August 2011

Odd names and ordinariness

Olympic park neighbourhoods It's hard not to be pessimistic about the fate of new-built neighbourhoods, just as it's hard to believe that any good will come of this olympics folly; but let's hope those in the Olympic Park will start out unlabelled.

Five neighbourhoods covering about 8,000 new homes have now been named as Chobham Manor, East Wick, Marshgate Wharf, Sweetwater and Pudding Mill. Not bad I reckon. Curious that all the winning nominators were male.

Among the comments on the BBC article, I liked this one:

'The choice of names suggests a welcome confidence in who we are as Brits; frankly Dickensian, underwhelmed by "progress", oddly charming (or charmingly odd), and rooted in the history of ordinariness.'

 

 

3 Aug 2011 08:52:14 | Space and place

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Call me old fashioned, but maybe nostalgia isn't the only problem Here's a curiosity. Ryan Shorthouse in Prospect magazine has a go at both Philip Blond (Red Toryism) and Maurice Glasman (Blue Labour - you still with me?) for their 'nostalgia for a "golden age" of British communities'. Quite right too. [Start of short Kev rant, partly lifted from a forthcoming paper] The contemporary media-political rhetoric is partly problematic because it finds 'community' historically still within reach, through the living-memory images from the nostalgia industry. (I often think we would gain greater insight discussing the assumed decline of neighbourliness in early modern England). Our politicians and journalists invite us to do penance before the curling monochrome prints of streets where doors were always left open and everyone knew everyone. The problem is not that this mythology is entirely misleading – it isn’t, not entirely - but that it is packaged as universally flawless, implicitly recoverable, and key to the resolution of expensive problems of social policy. For politicians and political commentators to peddle this rhetoric uncritically is either ignorant or disingenuous. [Rant ends]. Perversely, Shorthouse ends his article by claiming that market forces and private capital 'could sustain and improve public services that people rely on. Revitalised community life will only really come from improving the skills of individuals: boosting education levels and improving employability, for instance.' Well, and one or two other things we can all think of. A reliable economy would help, one that is not held to ransom by the Tories' dear friends in the financial sector and rescued at the cost of public services that are used by people who happen to be below their lofty field of vision. Meanwhile we all have to be patient while the current experiment in 'progressive conservatism' demonstrates quite how education levels and employability will be boosted by cutting education funding and closing libraries. Call me old fashioned, but I too think that it's in society's interests for people to associate more, and more pro-socially, at local level. But we're not likely to achieve that with the current vicious assault on the public realm or by decimating services that people need just to give them the strength to reflect on their own circumstances.
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Repair About a year ago I was driven round parts of Tottenham and Edmonton by a local ward councillor, Zena Brabazon, for whom I have enormous respect. Of all the many difficult areas I've been to with an informed guide, in the UK and elsewhere, this one struck me for the layers of exclusion that were identified. Ethnically-concentrated poverty overlaid by invisible drugs networks and pseudo-religious networks with secret power in the housing market. Of course it was a short and cursory introduction, but for once I couldn't see where you might even start. But Zena has been working there for many years, trying to help people improve their quality of life. It's hard to understand how she must feel after the weekend's events. Her partner Alan Stanton has posted a poignant note from Zena who is pictured here. She reflects on the fact that a wrist-watch that she was given by fellow council workers, was in for repair in a shop that burned down in one of the riot fires: 'Following the riot it feels that it'll take years to repair the damage done to Tottenham this weekend. Those who burned buildings, made people homeless, smashed windows, destroyed businesses and jobs did not act or speak for "the community". Thousands of people in Tottenham make efforts everyday to improve and build a real community, Over the years we've all tried to repair the damage suffered by residents. Like my watch, that melted last night and now we have to start again.'

Kevin Harris

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