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No boulevards, please – we’re British

John Dales laments the lack of grandeur in UK streets, but sees potential in central London’s Holborn Kingsway

John Dales
18 December 2009
Londons Kingsway – wide, tree-lined, but not currently the great street it could be
Londons Kingsway – wide, tree-lined, but not currently the great street it could be
There are usually plenty of people around, but their movement is too often constrained
There are usually plenty of people around, but their movement is too often constrained
The southern end, near the tunnel portal, is where the challenge to greatness is greatest
The southern end, near the tunnel portal, is where the challenge to greatness is greatest

 

I begin this month with an apology – to which the response of readers familiar with my stuff may well be, “About time, too”; and the reason for my apologetic state is that this article is guilty of repetition on two counts – to which the response of those same readers is probably, “Only two?”

Repetition number one relates to the fact that, for the second time in less than five months, I want to talk to you about a street called Kingsway; while repetition...

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John Dales

John Dales

John Dales MSC BSC MCIHT CMILT Director, Urban Mov

John Dales is a streets design adviser to local authorities around the UK, a member of several design review panels, and one of the London mayor’s design advocates. He is a past chair of the Transport Planning Society, a former trustee of Living Streets, and a committee member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. He is director of transport planning and street design consultancy Urban Movement. 

 

j.dales@urbanmovement.co.uk
+44 (0)7768 377 150
www.johndales.com

 

 
 
 

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