Walkers and cyclists are using the covid-19 crisis to swipe road space
They may not give it back to cars
AFTER LONDON was destroyed by fire in 1666, several worthies drew up bold plans for a new city. The philosopher Robert Hooke, who lived and worked at Gresham College near Bishopsgate, envisaged a gridded city with small parks, rather like Barcelona. Others, including Sir Christopher Wren, an architect, and John Evelyn, a diarist, devised plans to improve the city. All were disappointed—the authorities moved too slowly, and London was rebuilt along its old medieval roads. But the streets around Hooke’s former home may be about to change.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The great land grab”
Britain May 23rd 2020
- London may have gone into a covid-accelerated decline
- Britain’s palaces and stately homes are empty
- Walkers and cyclists are using the covid-19 crisis to swipe road space
- Why the NHS will not be back to normal for a very long time
- As debt soars, the cost of servicing it keeps falling
- The pandemic is dividing Britons, not uniting them
From the May 23rd 2020 edition
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