ABSTRACT
London is in a mess. This view is reinforced for London’s citizens in their everyday experiences. The problems of economic survival for the unemployed, underemployed or low-paid get more and more difficult as the costs of daily life increase. The number of homeless people sleeping on the streets is a highly visible sign of the crisis, as affordable housing becomes a rare commodity. Prices are increased to reduce the number of passengers using the underfunded and over-stretched transport system, although when usage falls again in the recession the response is the same and prices go up further. Thus the simple process of moving about the city becomes a luxury. People, usually women, making their trips to shops or schools during the off-peak hours have to endure long waits at bus stops with litter swirling about their feet. At night, women and the elderly don’t even feel able to go out on their own. Those who have a job endure long, uncomfortable and erratic journeys on a transport system in which no-one has any confidence because of frequent disasters. Alternatively they might try driving and spend unproductive hours in traffic jams on roads full of pot-holes and subject to frequent diversions because of burst water mains. Life in London is stressful. London as a city is falling down the quality-of-life league tables and it is not surprising that a recent London Weekend Television survey showed that 48 per cent of Londoners would like to leave.
