French Planning

I spent a very interesting couple of house at the Pavilion de l'Arsenal, the home of Parisien planning, and outside the Hotel de Ville, which is displaying an exhibition of the main developments planned for Ile de France, Paris aujourd'hui et demain.

It is particularly interesting because many people think of Paris as a museum city where nothing changes. In the centre, that is to some extend true, although plans to develop the banks of the Seine may change that. Most of the projects, however, are taking place on the outskirts of the city, or in the suburbs. They don't insist on attention as so many London projects do, perhaps because the vogue for tall buildings hasn't taken off to the same extent.

LeWeb

A very interesting week exploring the French tech schene at LeWeb, Europe's largest tech conference, and with the folks at Cap Digital, Paris' official government cluster.

I'll be writing about it for th next edition of Invest in France magazine, so for now I'll just restrict my thoughts to the presentation by Tony Fadell, CEO and founder of Nest Labs (and the guy who invented the iPod). He was presenting his latest gadget, a smart thermostat who learns from your habits to automatically control the temperature of your house (or be controlled via iphone). It reminds me of one of the very first articles I ever wrote, for Australian Computer magazine, about Bill Gates house. He could run a bath from his car, so it was the perfect temperature when he arrived home. Screens and music centres around the house automatically screened images and tunes adapted to the personal preference of the person in the room at the time. Even the plants could be watered automatically. That was back in 1998. Soon, those options will be open for all of us....

Silicon Roundabout to get a facelift

So, the ugly Old Street Roundabout, home to Tech City, is to get a £50 million facelift.

According to No.10, the new civic building will host classrooms, co-working spaces and workshops equipped with the latest 3D printing technology, for use by both the local start-ups and the wider community. It will be a resource for start-ups, a cenre for international conferences and investement fairs, and a place to engage school children.

Sounds wonderful, but I do hope more thought is put into the actual building. The vision presented by Architecture 00:/ (shown above), who have long been working on ideas for the roundabout (below is the first attempt), is already being slated by the critics.

Interestingly, The Guardian says it will be run as a community interest company: just like what Fringe Benefits, my masters renegeration study group, proposed for the Olympic Park's broadcast centre.

East London’s Digital Divide

I have long thought that the digital economy has the potential to offer new horizons to many of the young East Enders who for whatever reasons feel excluded from many of the other employment options available in London. The issue was touched on at two conferences I attended recently, Future London, and the London Policy Conference.

Here are a few notes:

One of the most stinging challenges levelled at the government’s championing of the inner East London tech scene is its lack of diversity. In stark contrast to the local communities, a recent report for the think tank Centre for London on the Tech City policy found that the Shoreditch-centred tech community was overwhelmingly white, male and British.

For the report, A Tale of Tech City, I interviewed chief executives at many of the digital economy companies that are clustering in inner East London. There may be a lack of diversity, but I found a huge amount of good willing waiting to be tapped for the benefit of young Hackney residents, with many CEO personally committed to helping the local community bridge the technology knowledge gap.

“We’ve done workshops in skills and when you show kids how creative they can be with something like programming, like make something happen on a screen by moving their hands in the air, they’ll go nuts, “ said one chief executive.” Just show them the potential.”

The digital economy mushrooming around the Old Street roundabout offers a real possibility for Hackney’s unemployed youth. Digital technology not only inspires those who’ve been turned off by mainstream education, it’s also more accessible: the best coders, like musicians, are self-taught.

Some CEOs volunteer their skills in programs like Apps for Good, run by CDI Europe, or Devcamp, both of which teache young people to create imaginative mobile apps. Others offer internships or take part in schemes such as the recently announced Tech City Apprenticeship programme.  Delivered by Hackney Community College, this government-backed scheme will give 500 unemployed young people the opportunity to work in companies including Google Campus, Facebook, TechHub, Moo.com, Poke London, The Trampery and Passion Capital.

For young people, there are real jobs at the end of such courses. One teenager who taken part in Devcamp was finding work only a few months after learning how to code.

“I don’t need to worry about getting a job anymore,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about my young age or lack of previous experience: code wins the argument.”

Gavin Poole, CEO of the iCity bid to provide a tech hub in the broadcast and media centres of the Olympic Park, said at the recent London Conference 2012 that there could be an “explosion of jobs and growth” in the area – but more efforts may be required if local communities are to benefit.

Speaking at the same conference, Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said it’s a “disgrace” how few jobs the Olympics provided for the local community. She called on the government agencies in charge of the legacy of the Games to do better in future.

Why London and Paris should talk more #1

Very interesting report from the Startup Genome reserahc prohects and Telefonica Digital into the world's top 20 tech centres.Based on information from 50,000 start-ups it shows the dominance of the U.S., which has 5 of the 6 top spots. Silicon Valley remains in pole position, although it is looking less secure in that place, challenged at No. 2 by Tel Aviv.

London takes the top European place at No. 7, scoring particularly well in terms of mentality, government support and finance. Where it falls down is in its ability to come up with new differentiated ideas. Interestingly, that is where Paris, at No. 11 Europe's second highest scorer, does well. Where Paris is strong London is weak and vice versa. Perhaps the two capitals, only two hours apart on the train, should stop scrapping and start learning from each other. Although that would require overcoming centuries of rivalry.... hmmmm.....

Hastings

It is not often I disagree with The Economist. But their latest article on seaside towns in the south east doesn't chime true with what I know of Hastings. They dsecribe the burnt out pier, recently awarded a £11.4 million lottery grant, as a symbol of the town's decline. I'm not sure if they visited the town for the article, but I've spent a bit of time there recently and every time I return, it is getting livelier.

Autolib

I remember first reading about the proposals for Paris' Autolib, the city-and-suburbs electric car-sharing scheme. Similar to the successful Velib bike rental scheme, subscribers can pick and drop off these handsome so-called Bluecars (even if they are grey) from charging points across the Ile de France. Almost a year old, the service has 37,000 registered subscribers, of which 13,000 have an annual subscription. I first became aware of the plans from a leaflet distributed at my local market, and I never thought it would happen. Where would they find the space, for one thing? Let alone the cost. I'm very happy to have been proved totally wrong and was delighted to see this car nonchently recharging on the streets near my appartment on a recent visit. But I wonder who is in charge of making sure the car gets plugged in.....

Good looking Manchester

What a pleasure to see Manchester looking so well! I was at university there in 1996 when a massive IRA bomb destroyed a large part of the city centre. Before today, I had been back only once. It was after Jason Prior and his team had rebuild much of what had been lost, but it was not a happy time for the city and any improvements in the streetscape were lost against a backdrop of people fighting and being sick. Once glamorous districts, such as Canal Street, had become grubby. I didn't rush back.

Today, it is a confident city once again. The everyday buzz was perhaps enhanced by the hosting of the Labour Party Conference (my reason for coming), and a food and drink fair - aswell as a lack of rain. But walking to the conference centre from Victoria station, I went past good looking squares and happy looking people. Just like in Lowry's day, folks still like to hang out in Piccadilly Gardens, which is an attractive place from some angles (just don't look towards the Mercure Hotel). Meeting old university friends in a bar overlooking the square, we looked out onto a confident city centre. Even the large Queen Victoria statue seemed to approve.

Media City, Salford

I wanted to go for two reasons: I had memories of hope for the Salford docks from my university days, reignited when I heard former BBC  Director General Greg Dyke talking at last year's London Policy Conference about why he insisted on shifting part of the BBC -- and its programming department (aka the folks with money) up to Manchester. But it was also because I grew up with a tapesty hanging in my grandparents Huddersfield home of folks going to work and I wanted to see it for myself at the Lowry arts centre.

The Peel Group, who own Media City land, and the local authorities have done everything right according to the cluster policy guidebook. The transport is excellent: a modern tram whisks you there from Manchester City Centre in minutes, a fact hammered home in much of the promotional material. There's a waterside location, and not one but two museums (including The Imperial War Museum, with a fantastic view from the roof), each in signature Guggenheim-esque style (even if the architecture has been criticised). They've scored a prestigious client in the BBC, whose money and pretige is likely to attract supplier firms to settle in the area. ITV is even relocating the entire set of Coronation Street. There's a shopping centre, which was reasonably busy on a wet Sunday, even if the art gallery staff moaned about the choice of shops (mainly discount designer - we stocked up on Molton Brown). A few restaurants, mainly chains, cling onto the shops, and if you eat in them you can park for free for six hours. The security staff in the BBC buildings are friendly and knowledgeable, happy to talk you through recent changes, and those still to come. If that weren't enough, Manchester United football grounds are 10 minutes walk away.

Still, it's a very different fish to the gritty urban grain of London's Tech City. With so much going for it (and prices for a waterside loft much cheaper than anything I could imagine in London), Media City has got to be a success, of sorts. But the creative vibe that people told us they valued so much in inner East London is, for the moment at least, missing.

Bury market

Lucky Bury. Unlike neighbouring Rochdale, whose unhappy recent fame is coupled with a decaying city centre,  Bury has a thriving "world famous" market, which signs proclaim has been voted the Great British Market of the Year.

I ventured the market's favourite produce: black pudding. Not usually my favourite food.....

Kew Gardens

Wonderful, wonderful David Nash exhibition at Kew Gardens. I shall have to go again to explore the gardens and their enchanting greenhouses, so distracted was I by these wonderful wooden sculptures that fit so well into this environment. Takes me back to Edinburgh's Gallery of Modern Art, when it was located in the Botanical Gardens and my sister and I would climb all over the statues....

Protecting views across The Thames

Interesting debate at the NLA this morning over world heritage body UNESCO’s recent call for greater control over the planning of tall buildings on the South Bank, to protect sight lines from the Tower of London and Parliament Square. Sadly, it was turned by some into a little Enland spat against meddling French foreigners (UNESCO) and what was labelled the anti-development lobby. I couldn't help thinking that had there been a few more women on the panel, we would have been spared thrusting male aggression in favour of ever taller buildings. Instead, we could have had a reasoned debate over whether more medium height buildings of say 5, 6 or 7 storeys might be more attractive to live amongst instead of dotted pricks to the skyline. 

Fabulous Dungeness

I have never been anywhere like Dungeness. On holiday in Hastings, we decided to venture a trip to this village in the shadow of a nuclear power station because the filmmaker Derek Jarman had lived there, and the images from his films attracted us. Still, we had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. A curious mixture between a French fishing village and an American trailor park, it managed to feel deserted and full of people at the same time. Many were visitors - fishermen or bird watchers, or possibly minature train enthusiasts. But what of the people who live in the wooden houses? Were they fishermen? Did they work in the power station? What did they think of the tannoy annoucements? Or the dunes of stones? Or the ghosts of fishing boats that stood half way up the beach, where the water once lapped? According to one of the two resident artists, the place is divided into the recreational quarter, holiday homes to working class families, and the "rufty tufty" locals, who mostly make a living from the sea. It is a truly enchanting and bewildering place, that according to the other artist, never stops inspiring, even after 30 years.

Start up Kenya

Interesting article about the growing tech scene in Nairobi. I hope it heralds the start of a new wave of digitally literate Africans able to compete on an equal footing with the rest of the world. 

However, to participate in the digital revolution, and share in the jobs and wealth that it is creating, Africa needs to be running with the cutting-edge technology, just like its competitors in Asia, the Americas and Europe. Currently, Africa has the lowest number of telephone lines, computers and Internet connections per capita in the world. The digital divide is particularly acute in rural areas, where there is a lack of telephone lines and electricity.

Technology may provide some of the answers. Take the Aakash tablet computers being trialled in India. At just $35, these touch-screen computers, said to support web browsing and video conferencing with a three-hour battery life and two USB ports, look like a great improvement over the wind-up $100 laptop of MIT Media Laboratory founder Nicholas Negroponte, who set up the non-profit One Laptop Per Child group. Although designed for developing countries, the technological limitations, particularly concerning connectivity, and small screen meant it was not much more than a children’s toy. Questions remain, however, over how the Aakash will perform. Africa, as elsewhere, needs sophisticated modern technology.

The public sector has a role to play, through iniatives such as the “Case des Touts Petits,” or Children’s House in Senegal, which is the construction of pre-school centers in villages which equip toddlers with their first exposure to hand held digital toys and games. Another initiative is the cyberhut, or centres equipped with computers and internet connections being set up across Senegal to allow villagers to communicate with the world, and to train young people. The private sector is also stepping in, installing underwater cables in West Africa that bring faster internet speeds.

There is still much work to do, however. In Africa there is one fixed broadband subscriber per thousand people, compared to 200 in Europe. Africa also has the highest relative price for information communication technology services in the world, despite having the lowest income levels.

Edinburgh and gold post boxes

Edinburgh has two gold postboxes, I'm proud to say, reflecting the double victory of Sir Chris Hoy. It's also buzzing at this festival time, and bigger than I ever remember it. Still, the magic is still there, no matter how much the locals complain. Particularly for folks from larger cities, the novelty of being able to walk almost everywhere and bump into friends whilst constantly surrounded by an overwhelming choice of art and culture is just fabulous.

No work in Workington

When I arranged to spend a few days in the Lake District as part of a Demos reseach project I am working on, I did not expect Workington. Pretty and quaint it is not. By the sea, it must have been a pleasant place some time ago, and I had a lovely jog by the sea (past this statue). But the high street is one of the saddest I have ever seen. When Thatcher closed down the inefficient mines, she didn't think of what the people who worked in them would do. After the major industry closed down, the asset stripping began. Stranded in a remote rural location, the people have not recovered. I can't help thinking that while the mines may not have been inefficient, it was perhaps more wasteful to close them down before thinking of an alternative. For if the mines were subsidised then, the people are more subsidised now. And a life lived on benefits is not a happy life. As the contractors in my hotel remarked, "this place has had the arse torn out of it."

Dessigny, Disney and castle

The guide at the Mont St Michel had an interesting comment on a glass window. Don't you think, she said, that the rounded edges look like Mickey Mouse ears? Her point being that the land of Dessigny (famous for butter), has given birth to a son who emigrated from Normandy to Ireland, producing a son who crossed the sea to America. He became Walt Disney. Could the inspiration have passed down the generations? Certainly, the ancient castle is as enchanting as any Disney castle can be. But perhaps the real inspiration came from tales of the hoardes of tourists (and their tourist dollars) pointy turrets can attract.

Shaking the environment debate

A contraversial debate at London House today by Matt Ridley, journalist, writer, biologist and businessman. According to him, we should stop worrying about global warming and environmental unsustainability because as we get richer, we are bound to find the technology to counter it. The distinguished audience, many of them climate chane scientists, didn't like it, repeatedly questioning his data and assertions. I like it when British people get into heated debate - we avoid it far too often in my opinion. Although when Ridley heaped praise on GMOs without mentioning any of the many many doubts about the benefits of this technology, he lost me.

I salute the GLA for hosting an interesting series of debates during the Olympics, allowing visitors and the business community to admire fantastic views of the city amid intellectual stimulation. Boris was his jovial best, entertaining the crowd at a reception following the debate by saying that Britain may be behind France in Olympic medals, but thanks to initiatives like RE-FIT, the one area London won't be lagging, is lagging itself. Despite myself, I laughed!

Young people and place shaping

So much has been said about the legacy of the Olympic Games, but not often enough by the people supposed to benefit. After a very interesting presentation by the Stratford Renaissance Partnership, Nick Edwards of Fundamental Architectural Inclusion ran a very interesting tour. It was not so much what he showed us, but what he told us of the young people who he's helping getting involved in place shaping, notably running a Legacy Youth Panel for the LLDC. The aim is not only to help them influence the masterplans, but also (given how few of these plans see light of day) to keep feeding into the development process. Unfortunately, there is not much money for this kind of activity, however inspirational.

I was chatting to Nick about the possibility of some of the youngsters he has engaged give tours of their own neighbourhoods. I bought my apartment in Paris' 20th district after going on such a tour of what was then an overlooked working class area of Paris (whose popularity has risen since I wrote this:!!!) The tours of alternative quartiers of Paris are quite popular and I think there could be a real demand for them post Olympics (Old and New Stratford, Hackney Wick).

iCity

Party tonight at Hackney House to celebrate the selection of iCity as the preferred bidder for the Olympic Park's media and broadcast centre, "two of the most digitally connected buildings in the world."

"iCITY’s vision is to provide a sustainable legacy for the local community through the creation of thousands of jobs, apprenticeships and training opportunities."

The Tale of Tech City report I co-authored recommended the decoupling of the Olympic Park from the government's strategy to boost the Old Street digital cluster. That doesn't mean we rule out a digital future for the Olympic Park. Only that we suggest the government should let the iCity team and the Old Street cluster evolve on their own steam without being forced into marriage. They might flirt of their own accord, or iCity might decide to hook up with a different partner - possibly the thriving artistic community in nearby Hackney Wick.