09. The Paywalled City
09. The Paywalled City The afternoon break, and you have a couple of hours to spare. But it starts to rain in London (nothing unusual): it is too late for a coffee but too early for a pint. Where do you sit indoors without being thrown out or forced to spend four pounds on a coffee that will keep you awake tonight? The answer reveals one of the cruellest transformations of our city: existing in the urban public space has become a paid act. In 1989, the sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third place” . If the first place is the home and the second is the workplace, the third is that physical, neutral, and accessible anchor where the community gathers, converses, and meets as equals. Historically, these have been parks, libraries, civic centres, or squares . Today, those spaces are in danger of extinction, devoured by aggressive commercialisation and budget cuts. Austerity has been lethal to the urban fabric. Since 2010, British local coun...