Greenwich Peninsula

The first 'Millennium Community' inspired by Howard's garden cities the development of Grenwich Peninsula is supposed to bring urban development into the 21st century. A former industrial site cut off from the rest of London the essential to its success as Chris Choa suggested in his lecture on high density cities is a good mass transit system. The Jubilee Line reconnects the peninsula with the rest of London and the key transportation hub that is Waterloo.

Three large green spaces form the majority of the public space in the area and though the development is not yet finished you could see people beginning to use these spaces as the designers had intended. Almost as though you were walking around presentation images. However I found that the smaller spaces in between buildings which I believe are perhaps the most essential in terms of experience and the quality of the outdoor environment were inaccessible.

I believe that fences, barriers items that are supposed to protect an area result in the opposite effect. Barriers can not stop the determined getting into a space where they want to go, instead they only serve to hinder and discourage those who we wish to use the space. If these Millennium Communities are precedent for future urban design I worry about their understanding and use of small urban spaces.

Sedely Place

If one were searching for a little 'oasis' off Oxford St this would be it. A tiny little square with a green wall (which needs a bit of growing) and a water feature on the adjacent wall. The mind automatically springs to Paley Place in Manhattan, which I believe is a good precedent for small urban spaces and a the way in which we should be taking landscape architecture forward

Aldermanbury Sq

The concentration of wealth in this paticular part of the city was overtly obvious as was the corparate landscape. But I think it is worth challenging the stigma we attatch to corporate landscapes, just because there is wealth behind it does not automatically mean it is bad does it?

Corporate landscapes give us the opportunity to gentrify spaces without any social implications. Though I advocate the distribution of wealth these landscapes present us with an opportunity of a large budget and a high quality finish.

Parliment Sq

It could be said that London is lacking in quality and quantity in terms of civic spaces, Parliament Sq is no exception.

Surrounded by an impenetrable ring of traffic this space is almost inaccessible to the hoards of tourists crowding the narrow streets around Parliament. Though the space is non too exciting upon arrival anyway, its most significant feature being the protesters camped on its edge facing Parliament.

A feasibility study has been under taken to redress the balance between vehicle and pedestrian enabling people to stop and take in the heritage and sense of place of Britain's political heart