King’s Cross Regeneration

Observations, Questions, Reflections to accompany the study of World

Cities

Why Regenerate?• Identify where Kings Cross is situated on a Burgess or Hoyt model of London• Note the developmental stages of Kings Cross as a communications node:

– Pre 1850’s, non-nodal but connected via canal system from the Port of London to the north via the nodal point of Little Venice.

– 1850’s – 1960’s, railway hub linking North of England to Port of London and vice versa – warehouses, stock yards, livestock markets. What caused this node to decline?

– 2000 – regenerated nodal link via hi-speed rail to Continental Europe, Office spaces, providing competitive urban environment with social facilities and lifestyle options for the urban rich and social housing. Who or what benefits from high speed rail travel?

– Why was the Eurostar terminal moved from Waterloo to Kings Cross?– What percentage of commercial, retail and residential use has been planned for?– Where and how much social housing has been planned for?– Inter-regenerated nodal links, International links via Hi-Speed 1 controversy – can

Eurostar be forced to stop at Stratford International? Is the Olympic Park competing with Kings Cross?

Map showing the boundaries of the regeneration plan. Note that the impact of the plan extends beyond these borders through changing land use in the immediate periphery and by contributing to overall ‘gentrification’ and potential disruption of existing communities.

Is this a public or private space?

If private, why is it designed as an open public space? What are the commercial motives for this? Are the costs of regeneration so high that they may all need to be in private ownership? Are there hidden costs for the public associated with privately funded schemes?

Is there a trend towards the privatisation of public space ? Is this similar to the Enclosure Acts of the 19th century? Note that the only public space available for the Occupy the City campaign was Paternoster Square. As a public space, they were not faced with immediate eviction. Is there a growing ‘control’ paranoia behind the planning of developed cities? Can services only be guaranteed by tightening control?

CCTV – London as the most visually monitored city in the world – see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xcFQm3sWfw&list=FLSVIs9c2URWT3V7NXv1qtuQ&index=2&feature=plpp_video

This architectural gem of Victorian architecture was threatened with total demolition in the first of the King’s Cross redevelopment proposals put forward by British Rail. It lies east of the current redevelopment borders.

New development next to old on the Caledonian Road at

Kings Cross just outside of the redevelopment area.

Note the CCTV primarily intended for monitoring traffic.

Just outside the redevelopment zone and in a historically deprived area, the new buildings are marked by less ambitious architectural standards of design and material.

Cleaning up the past……

Combining old with new….

How does the old work with the new? Does shared functionalism work or does contemporary glitz sanitise the old? Or does Victorian utility provide an anchor for contemporary post-modernism? Beyond design, how do these ostensibly public spaces work?

Does this and other examples of a flamboyant architectural style reveal a new-found confidence in the future of rail travel?

Liege Rail Station, Belgium

King’s Cross

Ex-Midland Railway Hotel, designed by Gilbert Scott in the neo-gothic style, scheduled for demolition in the 1960s but saved due to a campaign by John Betjemen. A Victorian palace dedicated to the importance of rail in the late Victorian age and now renovated at the terminus of the high speed link with Paris and Brussels .

Saint Pancras

Work in progress…

The soothing effect of water …. In a damp land.

Three forms of communication…

Kings Cross Project and Sustainability

• Sustainability goals are those intended to provide a good quality of life for inhabitants, workers and visitors without compromising the opportunities of future generations. They can be grouped under environmental, social and economic criteria.

• Undertake your own analysis of how well this project meets your sustainability criteria by considering the impact on the regeneration zone itself, the immediate periphery (Euston, Caledonian Road, Bloomsbury) and also London as a whole.