A brief history of London in one photograph

To the rear, two tall towers, homes for a hundred families or so.  London was heavily bombed this close to the river during World War 2.  In the 1960s the population of the city was growing and trends in planning, architecture and money gave rise to these highs.

To the left, the demise and departure of manufacturing left innumerable empty sites in the 1970s and 80s.  Trends in planning, architecture and money gave rise to these rather more human-scaled dwellings.

And, to the right, the period of austerity following the global financial crash of 2008 turned a long-term housing problem into a crisis. Great numbers of people were unable to have their own home, so the UK government invented a scheme called ‘Help to Buy’ that has seen the appearance of blocks like this across the capital (as well as an astounding increase in profits for housebuilders).

This is London.

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We could follow the fabric of connections into London's physical geography (the river, the valley, the bowl) or its administrative history (the Romans, the villages, the councils) or its economic trajectory (trade, transport, commerce) or its people (the new, the young, the fluid).

This is London.

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There are cars, and speed bumps, and a solitary bike.  There is one civilian pedestrian, and two police officers.  There are some modestly-sized trees.  There are bins.

Nothing bad is happening.  No-one is being stabbed.  No road traffic accidents are taking place.  Approximately 99% of everything is going ok.

This is London.

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Inside one of the flats in the towers at the end you have just been born.

How does that feel? Are you thinking that your prospects are good?  Do you compare the imagined life awaiting the new baby with the life you recall yourself having had?

That feeling.  That feeling is what ‘injustice’ feels like, when you’re the lucky one.

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I discovered after drafting this blog that, the day before the photo was taken, a 19 year old boy had been stabbed to death on a road to the left of the photo.  The two police constables in the picture were part of the investigation.

Approximately one per cent of everything is very definitely not ok.

This is London.