London: Bread and Circuses
by Jonathan Glancey, Verso £7 Since the 80s London has been turned over to the play of market forces. The institutions which previously had any form of public service remit have been broken up, sold off, underfunded and downgraded to second class provision or abolished by successive governments. The quality of life has fallen as the city becomes less and less 'livable' in the face of failing infrastructure, a higher cost of living and a widening gap between rich and poor. Jonathan Glancey - the Architecture Correspondent of the Guardian - contrasts London today with the best of public...