Product Description

When the figures say crime is falling, why are we more frightened than ever? Could our towns and cities be creating fear and mistrust? More property is being built in Britain than at any time since the Second World War – but it’s owned by private corporations, designed for profit and watched over by CCTV. From the Docklands boom to cities such as Manchester, gated apartment developments, gleaming business districts and plazas have sprung up over the country. Has this ‘regeneration’ really made our lives better? This passionate and vivid polemic shows us the face of Britain today, revealing the untested urban planning that is transforming not only our cities, but the nature of public space, of citizenship and of trust. Anna Minton meets those who live and work in the new private spaces, those who’ve fought against them and those who are excluded from them, providing forceful evidence that physical barriers are leading to a divided nation. Yet there is another way. Offering some surprising solutions, Anna Minton argues for an alternative, continental approach that celebrates shared space. Ultimately Ground Control presents a better, happier future for our communities, and our society.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15755 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-25
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
Anna Minton has done us a service with this book . . . compelling (The Sunday Times )

A sharp and urgent anaylsis of our changing towns and cities (Metro )

A timely and powerful study . . . revelatory (Guardian )

Compelling . . . raises important questions about the meaning of liberty in contemporary society and what we are prepared to defend today (Times )

Review
'A sharp and urgent anaylsis of our changing towns and cities.'

Review
'A timely and powerful study . . . revelatory'

Customer Reviews

A New Civic Space
The importance of this book cannot be overlooked. It is about how growing security, from CCTV to gated developments, is a manifestation of a paranoia that has arisen in society over the past generation. This fear, the author points out, does not correspond to a steady rise in crime, which has in fact gone down. Instead, it can be traced to factors such as the deregulation of the finance markets in the eighties, soaring property prices and boom and bust, as well as policies on crime and anti-social behaviour. Written in an accessible but compelling style it draws together changes in policy with the emotional effects these can have on our lives. By making use of the opinions of experts as well as testimonies of the communities most affected by the changes, the book, which is based on a journey around Britain, clarifies just how these changes happened. For those of us who wonder why all our high streets look the same, or pass a shop or housing that has been empty for some time, when there is a housing crisis, the answers point to the unregulated property economy adopted by the Labour government. The book is important because it also focusses on alternative European models of civic space that could be adopted in the UK. In short it addresses issues of personal well-being that affect society as a whole.

very interesting read
The author deals with a wealth of issues in one slender volume - it's a fascinating up to date description + explanation of the rise of certain popularist (planning) policies in the UK, copied mostly from the US, which have or are having a negative effect on the towns and cities we live in. And the fact that these decisions are so unpublicised, we are sleep walking into a "clean + safe" yet extremely paranoid and unhappy world. This book made me angry and frustrated - a must read for anyone wondering where the "public" spaces are and who and what "public" bodies control these spaces. Clearly written and concise, and not at all boring or text booky (a book about planning policies??) it explains the links between and consequences of market lead planning decisions, and makes all the issues extremely relevant to every one of us. I now actually want to read alot more about the subject...

Excellent expose of housing policy and the privatisation of public space
This is an insightful book that illustrates many of the failings of public policy in the UK with regards to housing and urban regeneration. It exposes the myth that new building works will lead to improved lives for the poor, and sheds more light on the disturbing links between public policy and private profit.

This should be required reading for anyone working in housing, or anyone for that matter concerned with the fact that taxpayer's money lines the pockets of private sector interests rather than improving the lot of the poorest in our society.