Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

londonist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 220 posts

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#61

Post by topicseed »

indy wrote: post #14

The last two decades were a world of low interest rates where people worked in offices and lived in expensive, high density flats. If commercial real estate has already peaked I wonder what the next two decades of development in London will look like?

There's a lot of residential in these shots, too. Commercial skyscrapers are more "visible" but there's also plenty of residential being built. Now, it's not affordable and probably outside of most people's means, but it's there and making useless areas like Nine Elms somewhat of hot spots – not everybody's cuppa tea for sure, but some do like it for whatever reason(s).

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#63

Post by HPsquared »

ido wrote: post #60
mytailorisrich wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the new towers you see in the pictures are flats. For instance, around Wembley Stadium the vast majority are flats. Lots of (fancy) flats on the Isle of Dogs as well. It's mostly offices only in the City and Canary Wharf.

We often hear here (Berlin) that the housing affordability crisis is due to not building enough housing...Yet London apparently built loads in the last 20 years and it's still as unaffordable as ever (or even more than ever)? Is there any data showing that if we let loose and build a ton of housing that purchase prices and (especially) rents will reduce significantly? It's intuitively true but all the cities you can…

The construction is a response to the high prices. Prices would be even higher without the construction that did happen.

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#64

Post by illwrks »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #39
noelwelsh wrote: post #11

London really grew in the Victorian era. E.g. http://www.demographia.com/dm-lon31.htm Reading Dickens is one way to get a feel for this. Many locations in his books are not yet part of the London conurbation. IIRC, one book has a character walking over fields to get to Hammersmith, for example. Going back further there is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Martin-in-the-Fields

" Henry VIII rebuilt the church in 1542 ... at this time it was literally "in the fields", occupying an isolated position between the cities of Westminster and London. " In the 1550s the country was unrecognisable compared to now. England's total population was about 3 million, now London's population is 9 million (and was 100k then)... Edit: Apparently, wolves in England had just become extinct at the time...

It makes you wonder what it will be like in another few hundred years... When we first moved to London (Zone 2/3) the place we lived in used to be a large apple orchard 100-150 years prior. Where we moved to after was on the grounds of a former nunnery then recouperation hospital. And now the area we're in used to be grazing fields 100 years ago.

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#65

Post by mytailorisrich »

ido wrote: post #60
mytailorisrich wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the new towers you see in the pictures are flats. For instance, around Wembley Stadium the vast majority are flats. Lots of (fancy) flats on the Isle of Dogs as well. It's mostly offices only in the City and Canary Wharf.

We often hear here (Berlin) that the housing affordability crisis is due to not building enough housing...Yet London apparently built loads in the last 20 years and it's still as unaffordable as ever (or even more than ever)? Is there any data showing that if we let loose and build a ton of housing that purchase prices and (especially) rents will reduce significantly? It's intuitively true but all the cities you can…

Many new flats target above average earners. London is attractive. And population is booming overall (UK population 2000: 59 million, 2023: 67.6 million).

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#66

Post by varispeed »

The planning in London is very poor. All they build are really the buildings that are meant to store value for foreign investors, typical open plan offices or warehouses.

There is nothing build that would be for workshops or light manufacturing.

Friend of mine have been trying to find a workshop space in London or vicinity for over a year and there is very little available.

It's either very expensive and too large or could be alright, but it doesn't have a bathroom and a sink. How are you supposed to work if you can't even wash your hands or you have to go to another building to do it?

It's like everyone thinks here the jobs of future will feature a person with a laptop hot desking.

Madness.

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#67

Post by ido »

illwrks wrote: post #64
mytailorisrich wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" Henry VIII rebuilt the church in 1542 ... at this time it was literally "in the fields", occupying an isolated position between the cities of Westminster and London. " In the 1550s the country was unrecognisable compared to now. England's total population was about 3 million, now London's population is 9 million (and was 100k then)... Edit: Apparently, wolves in England had just become extinct at the time...

It makes you wonder what it will be like in another few hundred years... When we first moved to London (Zone 2/3) the place we lived in used to be a large apple orchard 100-150 years prior. Where we moved to after was on the grounds of a former nunnery then recouperation hospital. And now the area we're in used to be grazing fields 100 years ago.

It will not continue seeing such rapid growth for another few hundred years, world population will plateau by mid century and even the big cities will at some point stop growing.

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#69

Post by jstx1 »

new23d wrote: post #37
jokethrowaway wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really about the cost. I would say it's pollution, crime and lack of avenues for small kids. I was living on a skyscraper and the amount of black dust I was removing from next to the windows was mind-blowing. I still remember moving 1hr out of London and feeling like I was breathing again. Not what I wanted for my kids. The amount of stabbing and theft going on was pretty crazy. It was all around you. Some p…

Your comments are a reflection of life in Tower Hamlets, where PanP etc. are. London otherwise in the N, NE and SW parts has clean air with plenty of green spaces for kids.

> where PanP etc. are.

What are these?

Re: London Then and Now: Aerial Shots Show City Grow over Past Two Decades

#70

Post by Filligree »

ido wrote: post #60
mytailorisrich wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the new towers you see in the pictures are flats. For instance, around Wembley Stadium the vast majority are flats. Lots of (fancy) flats on the Isle of Dogs as well. It's mostly offices only in the City and Canary Wharf.

We often hear here (Berlin) that the housing affordability crisis is due to not building enough housing...Yet London apparently built loads in the last 20 years and it's still as unaffordable as ever (or even more than ever)? Is there any data showing that if we let loose and build a ton of housing that purchase prices and (especially) rents will reduce significantly? It's intuitively true but all the cities you can…

People are willing to move around. So if a single city builds more, that slightly decreases house prices… everywhere else.

The specific city might see then rise, instead. It’ll grow, and that generally makes prices go up.

Post reply on HN