still having small panic attacks about people looking over my shoulder with their iPhone...
and generally thinking about this encroachment on the city, the next layers of control being gradually placed and accepted by the population. In order to pay for developments of unused or under-utilised land, governments and local authorities have sold up rights on land so developers who have cash can revitalise areas. sounds great, especially when valuable riverfront land can be pulled back from dereliction, as we've seen a lot in the Docklands and south bank of the Thames.
but there's always a cost isn't there? nothing comes for free. In the case of the new City Hall and the surrounding plaza, the land has been leased back from the developers. But this isn't public land - the seat of government in London is actually private land, and you are only allowed near it because the developers allow you... it is NOT your right. Amongst the prohibited activities on this private land, other than skate-boarding and littering gum, are activities like Demonstrations and taking photos! If you break these prohibitions, the police can (and will) be called, and you can be arrested for trespass.
Government, by choosing to site the building there, has blocked your basic right to protest against policies you disagree with - hand in hand with private interests. Government's role in this modern society of market driven interests is to apply an ethical conscience where the system will not take account of such issues, and with these commercial controls of "public space" increasing they have failed.
and generally thinking about this encroachment on the city, the next layers of control being gradually placed and accepted by the population. In order to pay for developments of unused or under-utilised land, governments and local authorities have sold up rights on land so developers who have cash can revitalise areas. sounds great, especially when valuable riverfront land can be pulled back from dereliction, as we've seen a lot in the Docklands and south bank of the Thames.
but there's always a cost isn't there? nothing comes for free. In the case of the new City Hall and the surrounding plaza, the land has been leased back from the developers. But this isn't public land - the seat of government in London is actually private land, and you are only allowed near it because the developers allow you... it is NOT your right. Amongst the prohibited activities on this private land, other than skate-boarding and littering gum, are activities like Demonstrations and taking photos! If you break these prohibitions, the police can (and will) be called, and you can be arrested for trespass.
Government, by choosing to site the building there, has blocked your basic right to protest against policies you disagree with - hand in hand with private interests. Government's role in this modern society of market driven interests is to apply an ethical conscience where the system will not take account of such issues, and with these commercial controls of "public space" increasing they have failed.
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