Inner City Decay

[searchlight]

If you travel round the industrial towns of say France Germany Holland Belgium do you find the same levels of litter, vandalism,waste ground, derelict boarded up buildings and run down housing that you find in the U.K?

[Ankou]

yes most definitely

[Whickerman]

you really do, everywhere.

[brionon]

I've been to Gent, Brugge, Ieper ,Kortrijk and many other towns in Belgium. Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Sluis and Terneuzen in Holland and Aachen in Germany plus many Italian Towns where I live for part of the year. I've seen none of the conditions decribed.

[JockSporran]

I've certainly seen it in parts of Barcelona and Berlin. The run-down blocks of flats and industrial wasteground. Not to mention all the graffiti which, however 'arty' or 'jazzy', still looks a mess and gives a place a threatening, run-down look.

[hc4361]

Horrible around Paris.

[Schutzengel]

You won't find that in Austria.

[tamborine]

No - 'cause they dont have the stoooopid Employment Laws we suffer. In Turkey residents wash their piece of street as they have pride in their country & encourage tourism.

Back in Gatwick - it was filthy in comparison to T'key airport. Cleaners standing around chatting holding brooms.

[tiggerblue10]

I remember seeing somewhere like that in Madrid.

[kdawg]

I lived in sweden for two years. What they called slums were the equivalent of middle class suburbs here in the Uk and Ireland.It was almost utopian. I've worked with Co-operative housing where the responsiblity of upkeep is placed on the people who live there. It creates a sense of ownership and pride. The loss of ownership of our public spaces can be directly linked with the degradation of our cities. They are no longer ours as they have been approprioated by financial oligarchy and the forces that govern us. Also mixes of classes is essential; people need to be living alongside each other in order to learn from each other. Segregation acheives nothing but increases the rift and fractures societies.