Building Jerusalem
I’ve just finished reading The Infinite City by Niall Kishtainy – a study of the various imaginings and attempts at building a utopia in London since Thomas More’s book.
Other attempts are mentioned – and there were a number in America, and other parts of the UK – but the book concentrates on London for a very good reason. It is the city with the greatest historical contrast between poverty and wealth amongst its citizens, and between slums and splendour in its homes.
It kicks off with More’s Utopia as the origin of the name if not the concept. That probably dates back to Plato at least. Kishtainy rightly points out that More’s book was a debate about the idea of a perfect society rather than a blueprint but identifies some of the key concepts later and more practical visionaries would use. These include a focus on the social contract rather than the legal one, and the idea of property as a communal rather than private thing.
I had heard of some of the groups and individuals who tried to create ideal communities including the Diggers and the architects of Britain’s Garden Cities. However many names were new to me including details of groups who were active in my own lifetime like Reclaim the Streets. I knew about their anti road protests but not about the artistic commune they set up in Claremont Road. As with almost all of the groups and individuals in this book, the establishment demonised them to protect their own self interest.
All of the non municipal attempts to create a more human living environment have vanished apart from the odd plaque or statue, and most people walking past these will have no idea of what they represent. Most of the homes built originally for the poor are now owned by the rich or the middle class and most of the council properties have now been bought under Right to Buy.
I have personal memories of an attempt at creating human level housing to replace slums in the Byker Wall in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Swedish architect not only talked to the people who would move in to create areas that would preserve the community spirit they had in the old terraces, but lived among them while the Wall was built. The Wall itself runs alongside the road shielding the chain of little neighbourhoods from traffic noise so each small group of homes have their own shared space in peace and quiet. It contrasts with the poorly built tower blocks and endless council estates which most local authorities threw up to re-house those moved out of even worse housing.
Despite the failure of most of the attempts at building Utopia in the book what it does show is the rebirth of the ideals in each new generation and the fire in the spirit that continues to make the attempt.
