Fearing a 'Middle Class Ghetto'

As London redevelops its troubled East End ahead of the 2012 Summer Olympics, organizers are warning against the post-event developments turning into ghettos of the middle class.

1 minute read

October 12, 2010, 9:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg

Ricky Burdett, one of the designers in charge of legacy concerns in London, is hoping to avoid mistakes of the past in reviving the East End.

"Speaking during a public debate on the Olympic Park after 2012, Burdett warned that 30 years of investment in east London had done little to raise its socio-economic profile and that unless the Olympic Park was stitched into its setting, little would change beyond the park's perimeter.

He said: 'I am reminded by major urban developments of the last 60 years that have become nightmares that any large-scale intervention like this could do something very negative.'"

FULL STORY: Ricky Burdett warns against Olympic middle-class ghetto

Monday, October 11, 2010 in Building Design

Community / Economic Development History / Preservation Housing Urban Development United Kingdom Ghettos London Olympics 2012 Olympics East End View More

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