Ken's Infernal Towers

12.00.00am GMT Wed 25th Feb 2004

Seven years and hundreds of consultations have taken place to produce Hounslow's UDP (Unitary Development Plan) planning brief that was approved in December. This plan is built upon the experience of professionals in Planning and Housing officers, the police and individual experiences gleaned from the general public over a number of years.

Just when everybody believed they had got the balance right, Ken Livingstone produces his equivalent document, The New Local Development Plan. This document outlines, in the most crass terms, the solution to Greater London's housing problems. It incorporates all the design failures of the 1960's.

Ken proposes to house tens of thousands of people in tower blocks, which we know from past experience, is a recipe for catastrophe. The lessons learned in the 60's were that intensive housing schemes of this nature gave rise to a sense of loneliness, despair, and depression. This phenomenon was so common that there was a recognised term for the syndrome, called 'high rise blues'. We have spent many years putting these mistakes right by destroying these ugly monoliths, which has cost the taxpayer billions.

In the 60's, these high-rise developments caused incalculable social costs at a time when there was less pressure in society than now. Health professionals tell us that the increased pressure and stress caused by the pace of life today is much higher. What effects will this muddled planning logic have on 21st Century citizens? The result, of course, will be the same as in the 60's, but much magnified.

If these massive developments are built, the decrease in green spaces and amenity facilities will lead, inevitably, to more crime and anti-social behaviour.

There are examples of high-rise developments that work, as witnessed in city centres; these are best suited to single people or childless couples who have ample opportunity to socialise in many other ways.

Ken always talks about consultation, how can he therefore justify such a plan. The failures of these buildings are well catalogued and the answers to the housing dilemma are being addressed by Housing Associations who appear to have a far better understanding of the range of people's housing and social needs. Smaller, individual units, in ascetic surroundings, promote a better quality of life.