Monday 27 November 2006

Academy of Urbanism

I've just seen the Academy of Urbanism Awards 2006. They include one of my favourite places - Borough Market,  London. It's a great story of regeneration.

Borough Market was always a thriving market, just on the south bank of the Thames, across from the City of London. With Southwark Cathedral, the new Globe Theatre, the remains of the Bishop of Winchester's medieval palace, a wonderful galleried inn, and some fine pubs, as well as the market underneath the railway viaducts, it was a great area to explore - slightly seedy and undiscovered, but full of interest.

Borough Market has now become a mecca for foodies. It still supplies fresh produce for the restaurant trade, but it also has a good retail trade. My one doubt, though, is that it's no longer a food market for ordinary people - it's expensive deli land.  Even so, it's good to see new life being breathed into markets. Others in London have been killed off, or like Covent Garden have just become heritage-style shopping malls.

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