"the freedom to make and remake our cities"

November 12, 2014 3:05 AM

Today, we’ve been so inculcated with fear and distracted by obligations and consumer junk, we can’t even be bothered to ask why numerous miles of warm, fluorescently lit tunnels under Chancery Lane are laying mothballed while people with no homes freeze to death on the streets above them – forced to sleep in hypothermic conditions by anti-homeless spikes installed on ledges outside shops, luxury flats and offices.

Urban explorer Bradley Garrett goes spelunking below the streets of London to show the importance of urban explorers in discovering the true shape of the city.
posted by MartinWisse (12 comments total)

The article, which I enjoyed, is interesting but scattered. I think the pullquote isn't representative of the intent of the article and also represents a suboptimal Morlocks and Eloi solution.

I say this with all due respect for the estimable MartinWisse.

It's possible there was some transition or equivalence I missed. It wouldn't be the first time.
posted by vapidave at 4:31 AM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

The article, which I enjoyed, is interesting but scattered.

I think the author took pieces from all over his book, rather than picking one small and coherent section.

The exploring sounds like fun; I enjoyed doing similar things when I was young and living in a large city. But in the article it felt like the author was stretching to find meaning and importance for the explorations. Harvey is great, but I'm not convinced that the explorers are actually remaking the city at all (though they are perhaps in a few cases remaking maps).
posted by Dip Flash at 4:47 AM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

First they put the homeless underground, and I said nothing.

Then they put the workers underground, and I said nothing.

Then they put the engineers and technicians underground, and I said nothing.

Then they put the scientist underground, and we became morlocks.
posted by jefflowrey at 4:49 AM on November 12, 2014 [10 favorites]

Pretty sure I wouldn't give a shit about some supposedly greater metaphorical similarity to some old book if it meant I could sleep in a warm, dry tunnel rather than the cold wet London streets. I mean, in terms of the aptness of the metaphor, whether or not I'm underground is a pretty trivial aspect.

But it's true that it's not the focus of the article, which did feel a little scattershot. Still, some interesting observations, so thanks for posting.
posted by Drexen at 5:42 AM on November 12, 2014 [3 favorites]

But did they find the Floating Market?
posted by Wretch729 at 6:29 AM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

Hey, Drexen. I agree that it's more important to get people warm and safe than to care whether or not they are living underground.

But I hope you'll also agree that shoving the homeless further out of sight is not a good idea, either.

Why should we bother with filling underground tunnels when there are unoccupied houses, unused office space, and let's not forget failed shopping malls.

More realistically, I can't believe that the tunnels in question are habitable or accessible, if they are not already being used for squat space.

Also, "urban explorer"? Really?
posted by jefflowrey at 6:54 AM on November 12, 2014

Also, "urban explorer"? Really?

It's a term that's been around for quite a long time. One of my favourite sites, where I've done a lot of browsing is here looking at places I used to know. some really fascinating stuff abound.
posted by thingonaspring at 7:23 AM on November 12, 2014 [4 favorites]

London is filled with empty or nearly so houses and flats. They sit empty and rotting because the owners' only interest in them is as a money sink, or a plaything. Surely it would be easier to house the homeless in actual houses that no one can be arsed to live in?
posted by 1adam12 at 7:56 AM on November 12, 2014 [3 favorites]

Pretty sure I wouldn't give a shit about some supposedly greater metaphorical similarity to some old book if it meant I could sleep in a warm, dry tunnel rather than the cold wet London streets. I mean, in terms of the aptness of the metaphor, whether or not I'm underground is a pretty trivial aspect.

Yeah?

Consider a passage from a letter D. H. Lawrence wrote to his girlfriend in 1908:

... If I had my way I would build a lethal chamber as big as the Crystal Palace, with a military band playing softly, and a cinematograph working brightly; then I'd go out in the back streets and the main streets and bring them in; all the sick, the halt, and the maimed; I would lead them gently, and they would smile me a weary thanks; and the band would softly bubble out the 'Hallelujah Chorus'.

A couple of canisters of Sarin and ironclad deniability would be about all it would take for any of the fascist elements which always seem to be latent in British (and American) politics to turn those tunnels into a pretty final solution to the London homeless problem.
posted by jamjam at 12:02 PM on November 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

IIRC, there are a couple thousand people living in the flood tunnels under Las Vegas.
posted by Jacqueline at 4:51 PM on November 12, 2014

jamjam: "Consider a passage from a letter D. H. Lawrence wrote to his girlfriend in 1908:"

Sure, horrifying! Can't say I find it remotely realistic/germane to speculate seriously about anyone "in politics" doing anything like that now, though. And if you're talking about some lone lunatic, I think it's fair to say that homeless people are more vulnerable dispersed around the streets where they have to make themselves invisible to police to avoid being turfed out, than a centralized location where, as well as service provision being easier, there would necessarily be some kind of observing eye as well.

Whatever, it's not that it particularly stands out as a solution when of course what is really needed is proper, well-managed and funded above-ground facilities run in a way sensitive to the needs of the service users etc etc. The point is that there are large, potentially useful parts of the city that we could at least have a conversation about using in different ways if they weren't deliberately elided from our civic consciousness.
posted by Drexen at 6:19 AM on November 13, 2014

And yes, as per 1adam12 that includes the large amount of residential/private property that's used only as a vehicle for investment, despite the way it contributes to hugely unbalancing the property market. But since that's all above-ground and accessible, that already is part of the conversation, there are periodic battles between squatters and authorities, etc.
posted by Drexen at 6:22 AM on November 13, 2014