Croydon Documentary. Part Two - Unplanning the Future

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  • čas přidán 13. 12. 2018
  • Love it or loathe it, Croydon is a remarkable place. The result of radical architectural and urban experiments in the 1960s, it is a strange, challenging and unique piece of city.
    In the second of a two-part documentary from the Architecture Foundation, Phineas Harper investigates Croydon's future, and the role the unusual local authority is playing.
    This documentary is made possible thanks to the generous support of Hawkins\Brown, an architecture firm actively engaged in improving the future of Croydon.
    ABOUT THE ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION
    For over 20 years, the Architecture Foundation has brought together professionals from across the built environment to discuss and act on issues related to design and the built environment. With a renewed focus on the city and the critical intersection of architecture and politics, the Architecture Foundation works to effect meaningful change on policy and practice.
    www.architecturefoundation.org.uk

Komentáře • 185

  • @alahreecakes
    @alahreecakes Před 3 lety +102

    Would love to see this team revisit Croydon for an updated film. Not sure things have gone according to plan.

    • @ArthurJGibson
      @ArthurJGibson Před 11 měsíci +1

      I live here. Can confirm it's worse than ever.

    • @ChrisSmout
      @ChrisSmout Před 11 měsíci

      @@ArthurJGibson lol fancy seeing you here. It's much better than it was when I grew up there 30+ years ago.

    • @ArthurJGibson
      @ArthurJGibson Před 11 měsíci

      @@ChrisSmout 😁

    • @mickydroyboy1542
      @mickydroyboy1542 Před 11 měsíci

      @@ArthurJGibson 😂😂so do I …can’t disagree

  • @hb3393
    @hb3393 Před rokem +12

    oh man, this series has aged like milk! would absolutely love a third part!

  • @booth2710
    @booth2710 Před 3 lety +119

    Croydon has a lot going for it. Like hundreds of rail services an hour taking you out of Croydon

  • @DoctorJazz2011
    @DoctorJazz2011 Před 3 lety +37

    What has not been addressed is that Croydon was its own county borough and in the 1960s intended using the future money generated from the businesses in order to provide public services, parks, etc. But when the money started coming in they were taken over by the GLC and the money was effectively stolen for use in other London boroughs. Poor Croydon, too close to London to remain independent. They tried but were betrayed!

  • @CodestarProductions
    @CodestarProductions Před 2 lety +16

    As a Croydon resident, I'd be really interested to see another follow up video! A lot of the things being discussed in this episode didn't really pan out...

  • @steveerskine4093
    @steveerskine4093 Před 4 lety +70

    2020 and the new bridge over the railway still isn't fully open. Only access to the platforms. No linking the two sides which was the whole point. Croydon will never be fixed while the corrupt council just do what they want. Some things never change

    • @peterdavy6110
      @peterdavy6110 Před 3 lety +8

      Amazing to think that the railway came to Croydon in 1841 and only now a bridge is thought necessary?

    • @michaelblumberg4981
      @michaelblumberg4981 Před 3 lety +4

      It's even worse, for the last year you can only exit from the bridge not enter.

    • @Danscottmusic
      @Danscottmusic Před 3 lety +5

      I did wonder when they were talking about this amazing bridge project to connect the 2 halves of croydon.. all it is currently is a way in/out the station

    • @mattyspencer
      @mattyspencer Před 3 lety +3

      @@Danscottmusic The properties built either side of the railway actually pay towards the bridge to be built. This is why it goes half way because Vita Apartments are finished but the building work on the other side has only just started. Bridge is also exit only now because of Covid.

    • @yupi56
      @yupi56 Před 3 lety +1

      Croydon should of stayed in Surrey

  • @richardclarke376
    @richardclarke376 Před 3 lety +42

    Before Covid, apparently the council were GBP1,500,000,000 in debt. A truly staggering sum. How do you get into that position? All these guys sitting around blathering about 'place' on 90,000 a year may give a clue.

    • @chrismichael5832
      @chrismichael5832 Před 3 lety +2

      yeah- what the feck is a "placemaker"

    • @richardclarke376
      @richardclarke376 Před 3 lety +2

      @@chrismichael5832 someone that earns 250,000 quid a year despite having no apparent skills

    • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
      @PORRRIDGE_GUN Před 3 lety +1

      £90,000pa? Were they only working 2 days a week then?
      £200k+ is the going rate for a pointy headed bullshitter with an ironic haircut and designer spectacles, donchaknow...

  • @mrlawilliamsukwarmachine4904

    The classical music at west Croydon bus garage. Should play that in more croydon locations. Keeps people behaving well.

    • @mthomson4565
      @mthomson4565 Před 3 lety

      That music is played in all London bus stations, at least those away from the Centre.

  • @alisonlee3314
    @alisonlee3314 Před 5 lety +33

    Affordable homes for local people?..….…no...... didn't think so

    • @paulstanton8332
      @paulstanton8332 Před 4 lety +1

      That was the work of a later political clique...their spiritual children are still in power

  • @Johnstone72
    @Johnstone72 Před 4 lety +17

    As a Croydon resident for the last 23 years, the decline in the town centre has been depressing. No doubt external factors contributed. The financial crash '08 and the riots of '11. Both were predictable enough and the consequences were even more obvious. Prevention is better than cure has long since been discarded for bigger, brighter, shinier. The redevelopment in the vicinity around East Croydon station has now been "reinvented." With? You guessed it. More high rise towers. The much vaunted bridge connecting two halves of Croydon is incomplete and serves as an additional access/egress to the North end of the platforms. The other big ticket item for "redevelopment" is? A shopping centre.....An enormous Westfields to replace the two existing shopping malls. History does not repeat its self, but sometimes it rhymes.
    Note: As of June 1st 2020, said enormo mall has not started construction.
    Edit: Croydon local authority is now pleading bankruptcy having got rid of some of these six figure earning visioneers. The town centre continues to decline. Time to demolish it and build houses.
    Shopping centres are dead. Amazon is killing them. Offices? Covid/zoom/Microsoft teams are making them redundant.
    Build affordable housing. It's what existed in the town centre before sprawl malls and big ugly super towers.

    • @booth2710
      @booth2710 Před 3 lety

      One thing I will give Croydon is that it used to be a great place for shopping. But the last time I went back to Croydon about 18 months ago it was clear to me it has become a town of poundland stores, budget stores and plastic bucket stores

    • @Johnstone72
      @Johnstone72 Před 3 lety +1

      @@booth2710 Amazon is killing retail. Where does that leave Croydon? Shopping centres? John Lewis will only be an online presence within 10 years......

  • @susanarmstrong5730
    @susanarmstrong5730 Před 2 lety +10

    I lived in East Croydon for the first 22 years of my life, and still look back on those years with great fondness. I left to come to Canada in 1967, and I’m horrified watching this film - I find my home town unrecognizable, except for the couple of shots of the old Town Hall, (where I spent many hours in the library). Where are the great shops on George St. and North End? - Allders, Grants, Kennards, C & A, where I would meet my friends on Saturdays. I guess it’s true that you can never go back. I prefer to remember the town as it used to be. R.I.P.

    • @FFM0594
      @FFM0594 Před rokem

      The library was great. I spent many a rainy Saturday in there.

    • @paulfrowde4145
      @paulfrowde4145 Před 2 dny

      I can remember like you.

  • @adamhawkes84
    @adamhawkes84 Před 3 lety +14

    Jo Negrini, slow clap... well done.

    • @connie1wilson
      @connie1wilson Před 3 lety +4

      £440,000 handshake! Damn, part of the reason Croydon is up shit creak without a boat!

  • @brucedanton3669
    @brucedanton3669 Před rokem +3

    My sadly now alas late parents both came from Croydon. My mum lived in Lansdowne Road and my dad in Violet Lane. They later moved to near Dartford where I have always lived; but we used to go back to the area when I was younger although I know they both said they were glad to have moved here really from there as it was too busy for them then. I still have an Aunt who lives in Norbury who likes living there though. Thank you too.

  • @nieffersharif7456
    @nieffersharif7456 Před 5 lety +29

    Croydon will always be home, crappy or not.

  • @KevinM913
    @KevinM913 Před 3 lety +5

    Visited Croydon last summer. It looked very run down and didn’t feel safe on the streets.

  • @MrRhay900
    @MrRhay900 Před 3 lety +24

    There is a whole lot of pretentious bollocks being spoken here. I thankfully live a few miles outside the centre of Croydon so dont have to endure it too often. It used to be the go to area for shopping but is just so downmarket now - not helped by current pandemic which has further emptied the shopping centres. The council leaders were all self serving to a man (and woman) and should all have been made accountable for the mess the town is now in.

  • @nicomonkeyboy
    @nicomonkeyboy Před 3 lety +4

    This hasn't aged well. Jo Negrini was 'resigned' and the borough is now bankrupt to the tune of £1.5 billion. I don't think we'll be seeing any of these shiney developments any time soon

  • @MattSpaul
    @MattSpaul Před 5 lety +19

    Really liked this pair of videos, thanks!

    • @ttbdrummer
      @ttbdrummer Před 4 lety +2

      Matt Spaul I like a good pair too

  • @dlawss
    @dlawss Před 3 lety +4

    I was born in Croydon in 1954 and Christened in the Parish Church.Who on Earth gave the Council the right to cover up the old station in Town Hall Gardens ? and knock down the old Whitgift school and build a really horrific shopping centre we had enough shops in Croydon + a street market for all tastes and needs.I used to live in Bisenden Road a stones throw from E Croydon station.I attended Ashburton infants,junior and high school until i was 15. The council spent a load of money digging up tram tracks only to relay them 30 years later What a joke ! Those COUNCIL officers and PLANNERS taught us how to Demolish a once quiet and beautiful Town to the concrete stabbing Urban jungle centre for drugs and violence.WELL DONE TO YOU ALL

    • @susanarmstrong5730
      @susanarmstrong5730 Před 2 lety

      Hello neighbour! I lived on Chisholm Rd. from birth (1944) to 1967, when I came to Canada. I attended St. Mary’s and Coloma, left school in 1961, and then commuted to work from East Croydon station to Cannon St. Usually had to stand all the way, because it was sardines in the rush hour! Happy days!

  • @pennyawful861
    @pennyawful861 Před 4 lety +59

    It's so convenient that these 'deconstructionist', 'brutalist', architectures are never forced to live in these monstrosities they so wish to inflict upon the working class.

    • @paulstanton8332
      @paulstanton8332 Před 4 lety +18

      This is so old hat. I probably used to say the same thing when I was a kid. Now I live in the Barbican, which is the most integrated and civilized estate in the whole of London. It might be constructed mainly of concrete but that is the cheapest way to build on that scale on such a tricky site. And the architects who designed it went out of their way to humanize it. It's not perfect, but nothing human is.
      Labelling poor design in this way is not only a gross simplification, it entirely misses the point. It is the original planning (often in combination with the unwarranted intrusion of engineers) that was wrong. At the heart of the problem is an inability, even among most professionals, to think at the large scale and the small scale simultaneously. When developments are limited in size and scope, the defects are easier to hide. But when entire areas are developed in one go, it is impossible to avoid them.
      The current talk of regeneration and gentrification is merely a smokescreen for reality. Without major reconstruction new town implants like Croydon are almost irredeemable. The sad thing is that much of this was known back in the 60s (e.g. Buchanan Report) but successive generations of politicians cherry picked ideas, cut corners, and then sold out, wholesale (and with the full participation of much of the voting public) to the private sector.

    • @BM-yc8eg
      @BM-yc8eg Před 3 lety +9

      @@paulstanton8332 The Barbican was always intended for the middle classes... though I take your point

    • @yourescum3068
      @yourescum3068 Před 2 lety +2

      @@paulstanton8332 the barbican is an ugly blight on what was once the glorious square mile. It should be torn down

  • @beatapanek
    @beatapanek Před 3 lety +9

    How does few letters written on the building make people feel positive? I doubt this lady understands how to make people positive about the area

  • @iman2341
    @iman2341 Před 3 lety +7

    Network Rail are pushing ahead with the Croydon area remodelling scheme which will include an amazing new staton for East Croydon as well as more services servicing both the East and West stations. With the council in ruins at the moment this very much feels like a crossroads for Croydon.

  • @DWXY
    @DWXY Před 2 lety +2

    No one lives in the centre? A few years ago I lived in an old flat in George Street. There was no rubbish collection for me or anyone else there - presumably because the Council missed the fact that there were residents. They did collect Council Tax though, funnily enough.

  • @michielverhasselt1136
    @michielverhasselt1136 Před 5 lety +3

    very cool!

  • @ilnikus
    @ilnikus Před 11 měsíci +1

    Echo some of the other comments that a part three is long overdue. As a Croydon resident of almost 20 years, I have seen the centre go through periods of growth, but it is now in a severe period of decline with large buildings, falling into dereliction and a semi-vacated shopping centre. What the city needs is a council that is open, prepared to think outside the box and engage with citizens on how they would like to see the city centre evolve. Good riddance to disgraced ex-council employees such as Jo Negroni, who oversaw a period of massive decline in all that Croydon was previously known for. There are few recent successes to shout about, but to worth mentioning our Boxpark and the renovation of the electricity building into an overflow campus for London Southbank University, but sadly the rest leaves a lot to be desired.

  • @backthisway
    @backthisway Před 5 lety +23

    Croydon is not a city..it is just a big town.

    • @jlscoyserney
      @jlscoyserney Před 4 lety +6

      300,000+ people. Its a city. 9th biggest in the UK

    • @paulstanton8332
      @paulstanton8332 Před 4 lety +1

      But you have to humour them

    • @thanos3839
      @thanos3839 Před 4 lety +5

      @@jlscoyserney no its a town which has characteristics of a city

    • @paulhunter123
      @paulhunter123 Před 4 lety +2

      a ghost town

    • @TIMBOWERMAN
      @TIMBOWERMAN Před 3 lety +1

      jack stones In order to be a city in the UK there has to be a royal charter; cities are not decided on population, see Reading and Swindon.

  • @joshm7081
    @joshm7081 Před 3 lety +6

    Never seen so much self congratulatory nonsense in my whole life. They get paid all that money and the only building that's actually finished is, you guessed it, the council building. Everything else is either crap or unfinished/unstarted.
    Croydon Council are absolute shysters. It sickens me seeing that money come out of my bank every month.

  • @WAKE-UP-BRITAIN
    @WAKE-UP-BRITAIN Před rokem +3

    Croydon In the 80s 90s and 00s was absolutely booming especially the nightlife 💯 heroes orchid, good times

  • @adriancraddock3337
    @adriancraddock3337 Před 3 lety +2

    Great to see Chris Morris's Brass Eye hasn't gone away.

  • @giovannanichols6878
    @giovannanichols6878 Před 11 měsíci

    We have been very impressed by Mr Perry, the new mayor of Croydon and his pledges to restore Croydon.
    We pray that he will be successful in putting into action his plans.

  • @gavinyu21
    @gavinyu21 Před rokem +1

    Croydon is not the most glamorous town but if they have a new tube line like the Elizabeth that goes to the city in 30 minutes, all those empty spaces can be easily rejuvenated with students and workers, especially under the housing crisis today.

  • @mygreatbigfoot1679
    @mygreatbigfoot1679 Před rokem

    Looks like a nice place. I’m going there for my holidays.

  • @GASTROPUBLIVE
    @GASTROPUBLIVE Před 5 lety +15

    the south end benches and trees have unfortunately become a place to sit and drink, make it a mobile hotspot for internet, put in a water fountain, a public phone, have a recycling station make it a usable sensible spot public space with a modern touch!

    • @76mill
      @76mill Před 5 lety +1

      An ideal spot for would be muggers and dindonuffins to hang around-just restin my feet officer- next to the only functioning ATM in the locale.

  • @harrybellingham98
    @harrybellingham98 Před 3 lety +5

    yeah, writing southend on buildings will fix the negative feelings associated with Croydon

  • @noprobs4552
    @noprobs4552 Před 3 lety

    I like your videos

  • @qviewq2071
    @qviewq2071 Před rokem +2

    We used to live in Selhurst and drove to the deserted financial district opposite the Whitgift to shop on a Sunday. One day a traffic warden warned me that from next Sunday the council will be charging to park in the deserted area on a Sunday - so we never went back. Cretinous council killing their own town.

  • @buchyu
    @buchyu Před 3 lety +6

    Croydon Council, particularly under the rule of Labour and Ms Negrini, have made ALL the same mistakes of the 60's. The only difference now is that the 'concrete jungle' is denser and has more glass and cladding!
    No long term view or regard to history. No care to the views of residents - the suburbs are also being systematically destroyed by reckless overdevelopment. Their talk of thinking about "the total place" is laughable. Short termist in view and Croydon has become a social housing dumping ground with little emphasis on amenity. A deluded idea of making Croydon a cross between Shoreditch and Dubai has been pursued.
    Unfortunately Ms Lewis, South End and so many other areas with redesigned roads/pavements have again no thought to practicality and supporting local business e.g. loss of parking space for wider pavements and benches. At least the benches provide a resting and loitering place for the alcoholics and drug addicts though...

  • @stefanrashev4829
    @stefanrashev4829 Před rokem

    Lots and lots of TV shows,and Commercial have been flimed in Croydon surrey UK.

  • @arsenalrocka16
    @arsenalrocka16 Před 2 lety +2

    they should turn the whitgift centre into a part-leisure, part-retail space with basketball and futsal courts and perhaps a large gym. Neighbouring sports shops, restaurants and bars would share in the success of these new spaces and the centre would become somewhere of actual use to the people in and around croydon

    • @arsenalrocka16
      @arsenalrocka16 Před 2 lety

      could also become the home base for croydon in a potential london basketball league

    • @arsenalrocka16
      @arsenalrocka16 Před 2 lety

      (also futsal pitches are great in terms of space usage while also being beneficial to the technical development of young football players. some spanish speaking countries have children play futsal up until a certain age in order to build up their technique)

    • @arsenalrocka16
      @arsenalrocka16 Před 2 lety

      why not have a swimming pool as well..

  • @matthewprince9705
    @matthewprince9705 Před 3 lety +3

    How did Jo Negrini have the gall to take part in this? Was she deluded? The people were blaming POLITICIANS, but she clearly doesn't think they're talking about her or her team. Maybe she thinks it's the "previous lot"?

  • @ClaudiaOfTheWorld
    @ClaudiaOfTheWorld Před rokem +2

    AF should collaborate with Inside Croydon to revisit this story. Their journalists have been reporting on the council crisis since the beginning! If only behind the scenes Croydon Council had been as utopian as they show themselves in this video 😢

  • @stephenwilkinson2030
    @stephenwilkinson2030 Před 3 lety +6

    Born and raised in Croydon, once a great place but slowly in the 80,s started to disintegrate Alders, Grants now closed Surrey St denied the right to exist. Left in 1980 because I couldn't afford the housing, I still visit my mum but never go into the town centre as to dangerous and always glad to get on the road out. Croydon needs to stop and take a breath and truly decide what it wants to be, and for everyone's sake don't let SK or big developers have any say just listen the the people.

    • @riefaification
      @riefaification Před 3 lety

      come off it it's not dangerous

    • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
      @PORRRIDGE_GUN Před 3 lety

      @@riefaification Yes and no. North of Station Road/Tamworth Road is a bit intimidating and there have been a lot of street robberies on the London Road. The stabbings are usually, but not always, dem natty dredded yoot shanking each other over drugs and territory, so if your not part of the trade, you will mostly be ignored. However, don't look at anyone for more than a fraction of a second.
      Croydon's motto should 'What the fuck are you looking at?'
      I mostly drink in London's East End these days, because it is much friendlier and safer.

    • @FFM0594
      @FFM0594 Před rokem

      Are you related to Stephanie Wilkinson by any chance?

  • @LJ07EBP
    @LJ07EBP Před 3 lety +2

    Ever since that start of 2017 Croydon has really changed with all its gangs.

  • @markbeaumont3292
    @markbeaumont3292 Před 3 lety +4

    None of these areas have been maintained and they are falling into disrepair

  • @plummetplum
    @plummetplum Před 5 lety +33

    What a load of bull. Still croydon are obsessed with massive towers of low architectural value. They ignore the locals. They cocked up that bridge which doesn't connect to cherry Orchard gardens because under Negrinis watch they didn't tie up the legal stuff for menta to complete it. Plus the bridge design with the stairs going the wrong way and other bad aspects (Google it) the architects ballsed this up too. Fairfield halls delayed by God knows how long. The centre of Croydon a ghost town and Westfields will never get built I guess because everyone knows The high street is dead. Still croydon councils glass palace looks wonderful and All those ridiculously tall ghettos in the making will keep the developers rich and rake in untold council tax. When the heck are croydon going to re surface the roads, colson road is like a third word road. Must have raked in enough parking penalties to cover that by now?

    • @johnstilljohn3181
      @johnstilljohn3181 Před 3 lety +2

      The monstrous new tower, which is just a pile of portacabins, has created gale force conditions in George Street...

    • @plummetplum
      @plummetplum Před 3 lety

      @@johnstilljohn3181 Yep, permanent wind tunnel.

    • @bevnae5149
      @bevnae5149 Před 3 lety

      @@plummetplum Do you know if the bridge is eventually going to get the go ahead yet? Interesting to hear that it was because the legals never got conclusively tied up when Negrini was in charge. What a shame.

  • @thedave7760
    @thedave7760 Před rokem

    Hi
    What Lenses and camera did you shoot this on?

  • @toffthe
    @toffthe Před 3 lety +6

    This hasn't aged well. Placemaking team ? How about ensuring your tenants don't live in leaky homes covered in black mould.

    • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
      @PORRRIDGE_GUN Před 3 lety

      I wish I could give you a like for this comment. Well done.
      Regina Road is not weather ingress. It's faulty plumbing in several flats above the tenants affected. This is easily repairable, so why wasn't it?
      I live in an identical Wates Home, built slightly after the Regina Road buildings, and it is bone dry and has never leaked from inside or out. It's not a design fault, but a maintenance failure. So the Council can't blame anybody but themselves.

    • @henrylelen
      @henrylelen Před 3 lety

      @@PORRRIDGE_GUN fix it yourself

  • @FrozenHero2010
    @FrozenHero2010 Před 3 lety +2

    Seems that that this is more about publicity for Hawkins/Brown and East than about Croydon. "Croydon is a mess and we're here to fix it."

  • @MajorKlanga
    @MajorKlanga Před 3 lety +1

    Who wants to sit on a bench in a street with constant noisy traffic? It would take real planning to reduce traffic in the town centre. Imagine the area around Croydon Minster without traffic thundering past on Roman Way.

  • @harrparr8988
    @harrparr8988 Před 3 lety +1

    Footbridges and public seating can improve a town centre. Who knew.

  • @Elkfazer1
    @Elkfazer1 Před 2 lety +3

    To use a quote from the Alien movie..
    Ripley : I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

  • @dotdots2660
    @dotdots2660 Před 3 lety +11

    Why do they keep calling it a city. It’s a London borough.

    • @andygee8716
      @andygee8716 Před 3 lety

      No city status without a cathedral.

  • @count69
    @count69 Před 5 lety +7

    5:19 I always get a bit nervous when people describe large scale public/social works as 'exciting'. I don't think we're any better at town planning than we were before.

    • @paulstanton8332
      @paulstanton8332 Před 4 lety

      That's not due to lack of talent, it's to do mainly with politics, professional hierarchies and social stereotyping. But areas that are developed almost entirely at the same time, will always date more rapidly than those with a mosaic of scales and styles.

    • @booth2710
      @booth2710 Před 3 lety +1

      'exciting' is a colloquialism for 'we f ked up' ...

  • @jessicabreadon6127
    @jessicabreadon6127 Před 3 lety +4

    Croydon council has lost millions so any new ventures they think will happen I'm not sure how long it will take. I'm sure very slow but I love croydon

  • @searcherholic3473
    @searcherholic3473 Před 3 lety +1

    This appears mainly aimed at architecture students. Still. Big up Croydon

  • @capitalb5889
    @capitalb5889 Před 3 lety +4

    I am familiar with Box Park. A great addition, but surely over the top to call it a "district". Croydon is not New York and Box Park is a building next to the station.

  • @thefrontroomtv
    @thefrontroomtv Před 3 lety +2

    Our home....

  • @tommcdaniel7775
    @tommcdaniel7775 Před 3 lety

    nice film - shame about the dark grading in some of the interviews compared to the bright footage outside, bit of colour correction needed :)

  • @TIMBOWERMAN
    @TIMBOWERMAN Před 3 lety

    Right let us put this in perspective, most of that video shows St. George's House (AKA the Nestle Building) and the NLA Tower (AKA the Threepenny Bit Tower and the 50p Tower from the shape of those coins). The height of those buildings is less than the Flatiron Building (1901) in New York. They have been surpassed but the tallest building is less than the (now demolished) Singer Building (1908) in New York.

  • @StillOnFire
    @StillOnFire Před rokem

    Still waiting for an entrance on the other side of the bridge. Lol.

  • @debbiedee2742
    @debbiedee2742 Před rokem +1

    Seems a bit rundown and a lot of shops are closedown

  • @mattbutler6742
    @mattbutler6742 Před 3 lety +2

    “West Croydon as a front door” yeah right

    • @wendyflanagan5738
      @wendyflanagan5738 Před 3 lety

      My humble birth place but I moved to Lancashire to teach. I could not afford a house there.

  • @BH-2
    @BH-2 Před 3 lety +4

    Croydon as a city requires total demolition and rebuild lol 😂

  • @tutornick
    @tutornick Před 4 lety +1

    Shame you are prohibited from using the new station crossing bridge....

  • @unknown_ross
    @unknown_ross Před 3 lety +2

    These are the type of people that smell their shit and think its a bouquet of roses... looking at you Jo

  • @CurseofNephros
    @CurseofNephros Před 3 lety

    The comments around the 'bridge to nowhere' are hillarious, you wonder if the people commenting have ever used it! It's been open for years but it doesn't actually link both sides of the station, it was built with open aspect the wrong way round so it faces out of the station not into it, and to top it all off it is often closed in inclement weather due to inappropriate surfaces (which was supposedly part of the reason for closing off the underpass it replaced). I understand it is to be demolished and replaced with a more appropriate design when the station is redeveloped in the future to add additional platforms.

  • @peterdavy6110
    @peterdavy6110 Před 3 lety +4

    Ruined Surrey Street though didn't they. Oh yes, it's not a city either. It is my home town though and I still love the old place.

    • @bevnae5149
      @bevnae5149 Před 3 lety +1

      What did they do to Surrey Street out of curiosity?

    • @wendyflanagan5738
      @wendyflanagan5738 Před 3 lety

      Surrey Street was a brilliant market when I was growing up in Croydon. I hope Croydon survives all the complicated challenges and is a pleasant town to live in, work in and remember as a success story. Think holistically.

  • @MsSandyblair
    @MsSandyblair Před 3 lety +1

    Croydon Council, is now broke, so in order for Croydon to walk into the 21 century, its gonna have to come from private investments.
    The question is, who's going to invest in an area, that has so much trouble?(part of the problem is there's no jobs in the area for the kids, so they just hang on the streets, then fights break out, giving the area a bad name)
    If those issue could be addressed, then Croydon could be a breathtaking place to work and live, it could be right up, there with New York.

  • @SP-lw7mr
    @SP-lw7mr Před 2 lety +1

    Architecture is probably the least of Croydon’s problems. A rapidly changing demographic, rising crime and both businesses and people leaving in their droves. I left 15 years ago and wouldn’t even bother going there to shop any more. It’s bleak, dirty and intimidating. I prefer to drive miles to Bluewater. The parking is free, it’s clean, safe and there’s better quality shops.

  • @busker1
    @busker1 Před 5 měsíci

    I'm sure the architects didn't design all these little interventions out of the goodness of their hearts. Obviously the Council planners must've commissioned them.

  • @FFM0594
    @FFM0594 Před rokem +1

    You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Tear it down and start again.

  • @wendyflanagan5738
    @wendyflanagan5738 Před 3 lety +2

    Could making Croydon more Vegan friendly for young and old re charge the Croydon brand? UK is successful Vegan wise. Please don't bulldoze Croydon and be unfriendly to those living there just to make it seem aesthetically and architecturally up to date. Without affordable places to live the future is not in Croydon. People make Croydon not just the architecture. It is for faith and families and keep spaces for beautiful parks so there is soul energy. Love you Croydon.

  • @ArthurJGibson
    @ArthurJGibson Před 11 měsíci

    This honesty feels like Brass Eye. 😂

  • @yourescum3068
    @yourescum3068 Před 2 lety +1

    Croydon is an example of why we should maybe listen to the "frigid risk averse" planners rather than the disgusting machinations that these short termist architects seem to like building

  • @juliegwilliam8503
    @juliegwilliam8503 Před 3 lety +3

    So this is what bankrupt Croydon! Croydon is a town not a city? Hope you're all very proud of Croydon's demise! # take responsibility

  • @zebedep
    @zebedep Před 3 lety

    Do we know when this was made? Croydon has gone from bad to worse.

  • @TIMBOWERMAN
    @TIMBOWERMAN Před 3 lety

    Southend High Street? In Essex?

    • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
      @PORRRIDGE_GUN Před 3 lety

      South End. Not Southend. The other end of that thoroughfare is North End. The bit in the middle is High Street (pedestrianised)

  • @patrickholt2270
    @patrickholt2270 Před 3 lety +3

    You've got to have a humanistic eye, and not be thinking about money, to actually create places that are attractive and therefore more liable to prosper. That's what the Tories got wrong in the 1960s, being Tories. And of course it gives the lie to the idea that public spending doesn't generate growth. Public investment is investment.

  • @user-s1o3nr532
    @user-s1o3nr532 Před 3 lety +2

    Depressing to see that even now architects are talking a great design, yet still putting up monumentally ugly structures. However worthy the new arches are, they look cheap, flimsy, and don't really do anything for the beautification of the town. The brutalist mentality still thrives, just on a cut-price scale.

  • @foggymountainbreakdown206

    Okay i get it - architects built office monoliths in the 60s, now they are all empty those same architects are focusing on wall paintings and public seating projects.....small fry perhaps?.
    As a croydon resident i suggest we ban architects from the entire borough for 30 years. By then all of the previous brutalism inflicted on the poor place will be viewed as 'period' and most likely listed.

    • @paulstanton8332
      @paulstanton8332 Před 4 lety +1

      No not the same architects and little to do with them in any event. The main problem was and is a lack of clarity about planning priorities (architects work to a brief and the brief is normally prepared by planners , councillors, or increasingly private developers). The inherent problems in Britain's spatial planning policies have been further exacerbated by a growing obsession with private enterprise.

    • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
      @PORRRIDGE_GUN Před 3 lety

      There is a lot to be said for Soviet style centrally planned and rational cities. Many of which have aged better than Croydon.

  • @rat_king-
    @rat_king- Před 3 lety

    7:53 yeah No one fucking sits on those benches? why? turn the camera left 90degrees That building is a Pub. people are going to sit in the pub not out side on the sodding corner!

  • @johnstilljohn3181
    @johnstilljohn3181 Před 3 lety +1

    Brash, towering monuments have massively increased in Croydon - they are building more now...! And they are so poorly finished, it's not funny. People who are living in the Purple Peril at West Croydon are really suffering...

    • @dariaadamus4302
      @dariaadamus4302 Před 3 lety +1

      @John Still John what do you mean by saying that people living in Purple tower in west Croydon are suffering? This building is fancy inside out with high standard super modern flats, I was honestly considering moving there and now I’m curious what’s wrong with it? Please explain?

  • @vickitoriana3454
    @vickitoriana3454 Před 3 lety +6

    Croydon isn't a city... They haven't once consulted croydonians about what they might like their living space to be like. I've lived in croydon all my life and while I watch this circle jerking documentary I feel genuinely sad that people who have no emotional investment to the town rip the guts out of my home.

    • @ashyclaret
      @ashyclaret Před 3 lety

      They do that in ever town in England. Outsiders come in and decide what the town needs and bugger off, sharpish.

  • @peterwlwong2882
    @peterwlwong2882 Před 3 lety

    For Croydon be a better city for businesses and for living will need a underground train for a start.croydon have enough office spaces to attract businesses from London on the other side of the Thames.we have heard Westfield will come to Croydon and that have gone cold.over the years the domestic ,violence and social crimes have a bad impact in Croydon.shopping in Croydon is no longer a joy for years.central Croydon roads are either one way or can’t get to by cars.car parks are expensive ,road signs and parking on road restrictions are very confusing..with one of the shopping Heritage Surrey street market on its last leg and the freedom and less stress shopping in purely way as well as the internet shopping. Why would any good people chose to shop in Croydon central.without a fast and efficient transport system how could Croydon attract businessesTo set up offices in Croydon.

  • @alexwatson5507
    @alexwatson5507 Před rokem +3

    Unfortunately the local Labour council run the Croydon into unimaginable debt leaving the residence with further financial burdens and they have been thoroughly caught involved in massive fraud and corruption through a company called brick by brick! I loved my little town growing up and still hold it fondly in my heart, but decades of bad management and corruption by Labour have blighted Croydon and they continue to run it into the ground with failed policies and financial destruction to this day! The council tax payment, from Labour as well, is shocking. What a mess! Trust me anyone reading this! Voting for Labour or the Tories will always be a mistake! 2 sides of the same coin.

  • @asocialscientist1253
    @asocialscientist1253 Před rokem +2

    "other boroughs should take not of croydon", a place that has deteriorated beyond belief since the release of this propaganda video. Madam Neogrini has been axed and since caught taking a 600k payout. Church street, whitgift centre, and just the town in general has gone so so downhill since this vid was released. at the moment, the place is the pure underworld of london, crime, drugs, you name it.

  • @mariangallagher9158
    @mariangallagher9158 Před 3 lety +1

    Dive

  • @garyknowles2002
    @garyknowles2002 Před 3 lety

    Keep polishing that turd!

  • @doktergroen
    @doktergroen Před 3 lety +3

    I haven’t seen a single cycle lane.

    • @Natttttttttt
      @Natttttttttt Před 3 lety +2

      They’re there and replacing a lot of the roads now. Look again :-)

  • @SeanReillyEsq
    @SeanReillyEsq Před 3 lety +1

    Hilarious watching this with my wife who was born in, and grew up around Croydon. She says she hopes you've chained down the street furniture.

  • @Thefuzzion115
    @Thefuzzion115 Před 3 lety

    Lol a monster is born

  • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
    @PORRRIDGE_GUN Před 3 lety

    Who paid for this puff-piece? How much did it cost?

  • @craignunnallypurcell
    @craignunnallypurcell Před 3 lety

    Ignoring the ground plane is a problem of course...

  • @mgladdish
    @mgladdish Před rokem

    This has really not aged well. The oh-so-wonderful architected locations here are now dirty, crap and unpleasant. The much-lauded station footbridge still doesn't act as a public space or connect the two halves of Croydon, and its cheap wonky roof does little to stop the rain, leaving the floor a slippery hazard for us mere plebs using the thing.
    Today's architects may have smarter beards and talk about how their creations will be used, but it seems they haven't actually learned anything in practice from their forebears.

  • @pmajudge
    @pmajudge Před 7 měsíci

    CROYDON ! Became the " DALLAS" of CROYDON ! IT LOOKED SOPHISTICATED & STYLE ! COULD HAVE BECME A " CITY " IF NOT FOR THAT RIOT!!! CAUSED In TOTTENHAM COURT ESTATE. 🙄🙄😯😲😱😱!!! MIGHT HAVE PROGRESSED BEAUTIFULLY!!! FROM,U.K. (2023).

  • @sarahharbert8944
    @sarahharbert8944 Před 6 měsíci

    Those delightful chairs that were installed in south end you talk about have now been removed due to the local drunks hanging out their everyday making local residents lives a nightmare. So yeah great idea

  • @vijayagita3158
    @vijayagita3158 Před 3 lety

    No progress has been made only higher, and more somber towers for money's sake that are uninhabited, such ugliness in a small space, what a lot of bull these films! The centre of Croydon is in the way of becoming even worse!

  • @padraigkilkenny13
    @padraigkilkenny13 Před 10 měsíci

    Go back and do another documentary! No wonder the council are skint, council and projects have wasted money! Box park is a pisshole with kids and beggars outside!

  • @equinox95
    @equinox95 Před 2 lety +1

    The first thing to do is remove Labour from control of the council.

  • @simonirvine1628
    @simonirvine1628 Před 3 lety

    The silver/white Arch's appear to me as cheap shit...