The Bloomsbury district in London is one of the few areas planned and with straight roads, -designed round a series of squares where the many major institutions are based, such as the University
of London and the British Museum. It could have been what most of London would have turned out like after the Great Fire, had the people not ignored the grand plan and rebuilt on their old plots.
It can work (looks lovely from above), but it's also one of the quietest areas of the capital, for good or bad. Businesses such as shops and restaurants don't exactly thrive like elsewhere.
https://mappinglondon.co.uk
Jason Hawkes,
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http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-ge...ing-London.jpg
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foreground -you'll see the formality of the plan change as it abutts the medieval winding streets of the rest of the city, much denser and busier:
Footfall -residents like it for its quietude, but everyone else finds no real reason to visit. Despite drawing thousands of students, it has no major nightlife.
I will say though the businesses are almost all independent, though what would normally be a draw for everyone jaded of the high street chains, isn't. The quality of produce
isn't great, with low end restaurants and corner shops (though of course with hidden gems) that have degraded due to the low footfall. They're now universally suffering this past
year and a lot have closed.
https://mr2.homeflow-assets.co.uk
The nearest it gets to busy is the Brunswick Centre, a local modernist icon of mixed housing and classy shopping/ eating/ sipping that occupies one 'campus' square.
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www.architecture.com