What are we doing wrong in this country? Why are our cities decaying and dying? Two days two cities and both showing significant decay. yesterday it was Leicester and today it is Wolverhampton. Both have real history and yet both appear to be dying very slowly. I spent today at the Wolverhampton city art gallery. A magnificent Victorian pile with a significant amount of lottery money spent on it. The result was a very lively vibrant environment to enjoy art. The exhibitions were interesting and the coffee was almost drinkable. All in all a positive experience. Yet right next to it is a Victorian bank building that had fallen on hard times. It had been turned into one of those huge drinking houses that were all the rage a few years ago. However, like so many of these great ideas it is no longer profitable so has now closed and the dereliction just adds to the air of gloom.
All around the art gallery there are magnificent proud examples of building that spoke volumes of local civic pride. All empty or not really functioning as they should. Too expensive to renovate, unable to be knocked down because they are listed buildings so they just genitally crumble. At least Wolverhampton still has some worth while buildings - which is more than could be said of Leicester. There was an old joke that the city planners in Leicester destroyed more buildings than the combined might of the German air force.
But why are we in such a mess? You just know that if this were continental Europe the city centres would not be allowed to root. Perhaps the main reason behind this lack of local pride is that there is no real control of the local government. We all elect local politicians who then spend most of there time trying to get money out of different central government funds. I know I have been part of this futile exercise. Why should a politician or civil servant in London be interested in the well being of Wolverhampton or Leicester or any other city outside the M25? This is a stark caricature of the reality and there are all soughts of other factors to play. None the less it is only local people with a vested interest who can restore our decaying towns and cities - central government can't.
It is just so very sad and I can't see things changing any time soon.
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