In Glasgow, Buchanan St is one of the main, pedestrianised shopping streets. It slopes downhill from Sauchiehall St to the St Enoch Centre. The latter (which I hadn't visited before) is a huge, multi-storied mall. Even in the rain, Buchanan St was buzzing with people. The St Enoch Centre, on the other hand, seemed strangely quiet. It had that rather predictable, mall layout culminating in a large children's play area - but where were the children, families? ... it was drearily uninhabited. I don't know the history and perhaps I just struck the mall at the wrong time, but it kind of confirmed my already well-established prejudice (!) that outdoor shopping areas with quirky side-streets and that typical mixture of new and old buildings are much more fun and characterful than homogenised malls.
Space is another interesting issue. In the centre of The Hague, just near the Stadthuis, there is a large, open, paved square surrounded by newish, cultural buildings. It's always empty. People occasionally use it to cross from one side to the other but that seems to be all. It cries out for activity, buskers, perhaps a little bit of green space where people can sit on grass, under a tree. In the summer sun there is no shelter and so people are not encouraged to linger. (I guess it is good for concerts). In contrast, Het Lange Voorhout, about which I wrote previously, attracts lots of people, locals and tourists. It is green and shady, features sculptures along its length and strategically placed benches which invite you to relax and linger.
I think one of the most appealing aspects of central London is its many leafy squares. It isn't just the green space but the interesting contrast between the green space and the built-environment, the unexpectedness of happening across something different. It is this sort of quirky contrast that malls lack.
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| Buchanan St, Glasgow |
Interesting comments Jane. I hate malls but of late have been to Northlands a couple of times. It heaves with people at weekends and late nights. Part is shopping (and entertainment if you can call walking around and being in the food hall that) and part is weather. It is a place where people go to socialize sadly. ReStart Mall is attractive to people because of novelty but also scale and variety of space - sheltered courtyards etc. I'd love to see lots of ReStarts around town and leafy squares and courtyards of new buildings. I'm very worried about how the empty the square will become again.
ReplyDeleteWhen a city works it is just a great place to be. One of the reasons London works so well is because it is multi-centered; essentially many 'villages' joined together, still retaining something of their original, varied character. In the 'new' ChCh I hope that 'ring' of inner-city suburbs - Sydenham, Addington etc - really flourish. Thanks Marion - it's good to be pushed to think about possibilities.
ReplyDeleteAmen about the fancy but sterile department store malls. Can't tell one from another, and the same the world over. We were very surprised by that in China. Give me a local shopping district any day.
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