Saturday, December 15, 2007
Why I Won't Live in England #4 - Over-crowded and Antiquated
If it often mentioned that Japan and Germany actually benefited from being bombed to bits and having to rebuild. Evidence for this is England.
English cities, towns and their infrastructure are very, very old. They were very suited to a scenario of:
- people sharing bedrooms
- outdoor toilets
- no such thing as cars, people mostly walked
- working and shopping locally
- small terraced houses easier to heat, cheaper to build
Today is different:
- we want our own bedrooms, with en-suite
- half of us own a car
- we work and shop further away (because we have cars)
- heating and building houses is relatively cheaper
The solution:
1. Reduce population - as part of the EU, the argument of more people = better economy is kinda redundant
2. Bulldoze the whole country, one suburb at a time (for minimum displacement), and rebuild it
3. Build houses with space and individuality
4. Rebuild the road and motorway network from scratch
This would restore a sense of pride, and efficiencies, that England sorely needs.
English cities, towns and their infrastructure are very, very old. They were very suited to a scenario of:
- people sharing bedrooms
- outdoor toilets
- no such thing as cars, people mostly walked
- working and shopping locally
- small terraced houses easier to heat, cheaper to build
Today is different:
- we want our own bedrooms, with en-suite
- half of us own a car
- we work and shop further away (because we have cars)
- heating and building houses is relatively cheaper
The solution:
1. Reduce population - as part of the EU, the argument of more people = better economy is kinda redundant
2. Bulldoze the whole country, one suburb at a time (for minimum displacement), and rebuild it
3. Build houses with space and individuality
4. Rebuild the road and motorway network from scratch
This would restore a sense of pride, and efficiencies, that England sorely needs.
Labels: England, infrastructure
