Threatening graffiti appears at sites of ‘urban regeneration’.
Whilst putting the fear of god into new homeowners might not be the best solution, gentrification is a genuine problem in Hackney and many other poor areas of London. It’s a problem shared with many other big urban centres worldwide.
Whilst DINKies (Double Income No Kids) are marketed to with promises of ‘loft city living’ and ‘Armani-suited concierges’, council lists are getting ever longer and those in genuine need of sustainable housing not getting it.
Some property developers have recognised that there is a problem and are blending public and private sector interests. Just up the road from this graffiti stands 16 Hoxton Square, a listed old school and community centre. It has been converted into two luxury (but not overtly so) flats overlooking the square and some community offices. The downstairs holds a Prue Leith restaurant (the Hoxton Apprentice) that doubles as a culinary training school for the long term unemployed and Bob Breen, one of East London’s most celebrated martial arts specialists, who has been given back his old place in the building, with an expanded and modernised gym.
According to Sylvie Pierce of Capital & Provident Regeneration who managed the project (full interview in the Financial Times - subscription required):
We all talk about regeneration but what does it really mean? You produce beautiful loft apartments and you bring the wealthy in. They spend money in bars and restaurants and eventually it trickles down. Or you take a more sophisticated view. What does it mean to live on a local estate and see all this affluence around you?
The graffiti in Hackney should give her a fair idea.
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