# The design of cities - case files



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

OK welcome to a huge photo essay, how is a city designed, why is it designed 
that way and how is it _not_ designed that way, which is even more interesting.
Why do people live there, what are the attractions and the problems?

These pics have been sitting for ages on my computer, please please PM for 
proper creditation due if you recognise your shot. Ive tried the best I can 
remember and search from.
*
So sit back, put your armchair traveling feet up, n enjoy the photo essays.*

Thankyou to all who contribute :cheers:


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

OK Case 1 of one of the best planned cities, and justifiably famous for doing so.
The plan is primarily for *health*, grandeur, optimisation of space secondary, and liveability a successful side effect.


*Paris* - architectural harmony, and the densest city in the West SCROOOOOLLLL right (this is only one third the panorama)
*check out the Eiffel Tower for scale!* The only city with this similar look of density is midrise Athens.

Thanx to SuomiPoika for finding this on Amazing European Cities Thread. www.imageshack.us









a central view:
http://membres.lycos.fr









www.survoldefrance.fr


















With a backdrop of showpiece architecture accumulated over the years, Paris was notably saved from being razed by the Nazi General who
chose to disobey Hitler at the end of the war (at risk of execution too).

www.wikimedia.org and www.e-architect.co.uk/paris
















and some of the most enduring images of urban life. This is the City of Light

http://toimoi.unblog.fr and www.artfiles.art.com (Robert Doisneau)
















Paris was founded in 52BC by the Roman town of Lutetia, conquered from the Parisii tribe that had occupied the land from 4200BC.
After the decline of the palatial centre and abandonment by Roman troops, it slowly grew from 500AD onwards to become one of Europe's greatest medieval cities.

http://historic-cities.huji.ac.il and last www.cwrl.utexas.edu
























Paris, already recovering from the 1871 siege of the Franco-Prussian war that severely damaged it's *outskirts*,
had *subsequently* much of its medieval centre obliterated by Baron Haussman's plans for radial streets and grand boulevards, (notably Le Marais district still survives).
*The plan was to sweep away the insanitary conditions of the old city that proved a breeding ground for disease and
create space, light and function:*


www.home.net.fr and www.roland-collection.com
















http://ec-33-saint-bernard.scola.ac-paris.fr 

















Rue de Faubourg St Antoine 1884


















Creating vistas like nowhere else, and a huge sense of space in the boulevards:



www.soulcatcherstudio.com and www.IUP.fr
















www.ibiblio.org










as well as intimate punctuations

Thanx to kony



















These dramatic streetplans retain their impact- note the modern architecture hidden within the streetwalls.
Le Courbusier's design for Paris was to annihilate the centre and rebuild it along vast central avenues
with uniform skyscrapers. *Appalled at the plan Parisians shelved it.*

http://66.230.220.70/images









www.303rdbg.com and www.linternaute.com
















www.survoldefrance.fr









betrand grau




































Imagine, Paris as it might have been with all of the above:

http://aftercorbu.com and http://home.vicnet.net.au

















delineated architectural styles remain, from the medieval sections
to the postmodern.

medieval, Haussmanian
www.parismarais.com www.britannica.com
















postmodern
www.wikimedia.org








http://irgendwo.free.f









Thanx to Minato Ku - *Inner aswell as *outer Paris, and its styles
















































































and contemporary twists


















thanx to Kony










orchestrated juxtapositions:

www.cities.nu and http://farm3.static.flickr.com















www.ibiblio.org









www.fromparis.com










One of the worlds largest underground systems it is the most intricately connected - you are in fact never more than 500m from a metro stop within
the city boundaries (catering to 2.2 out of the 11 million inhabitants), and some of the busiest metro stations in the world.

www.ideamerge.com and www.streetsblog.org
















thanx to Minato Ku



























and not many people know this but the whole streetplan is duplicated underground in a vast sewer network with cathedral sized
chambers. There are 177 miles of tunnels and disused quarries below the streets:

http://magliery.com and http://europeforvisitors.com
















http://city-guide.cc/paris/paris-underground-guide and www.parisdailyphoto.com

art and the infamous catacombs museum

















*a historic centre surrounded by modern suburbs:* 
Paris is a living breathing city with high densities, and much new and daring architecture
alongside the old and great cultural heritage, combined with the chic, the quality and the libertarian.
It is the richest city in Europe.


thanx to MinatoKu www.imageshack.us
















http://irgendwo.free.fr and http://architecture.myninjaplease.com
















Paris is a rapidly changing city, as it always has been. Whilst the cultural greats of food, wine,
fashion and the arts remain dynamic, so does the population, now, along with Spain accepting more
asylum seekers than any other nation.

Christopher de Wolfe at wwwUrbanphoto.net www.diplomatie.gouv.fr www.eatingoutloud.com









Christopher DeWolfe and Laine Tam last one























However the greater social problems of any city tend to be sidelined to the suburbs,
the hugely cosmopolitan and rapidly multi ethnic population ghettoised residentially 
(though not as extreme as the media report), the one city sharply breaking the European
trend toward residential mixing. This doesn't mean they are any different from any other 
city's poorer areas, just that they are grouped together define them apart (crime in the banlieues is still relatively low).

http://parisbanlieue.blog.lemonde.fr and http://blog.lib.umn.edu/arras
















CP Fevrier @ www.flickr.com










Paris life, the streets, the people, the intervention of the civic thinktanks:

www.urbanphoto.net and www.wikimedia.ord
















www.subtraction.com and www.parlerparis.com
















Although under duress, cafe life is still strong

www.spirit-of-paris.com Laine Tam















www.pictureninja.com and www.hrw.org
















...and through it all the disobedience of the Paris Underground,

the current urban tribe du jour are the Tektonics. NYC have the Guidos, Paris these guys:

Avert ur eyes!
www.obiwi.fr and http://i12.servimg.com
















all *life is lived to a backdrop*
the details everywhere you look:

Thanx to JP @ www.skyscrapercity.com













































the vistas

thanx to JP, http://irgendwo.free.fr


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Right Case 2, one of the least planned cities. Sit back, relax, and enjoi the tour.

The primary function was ease of building, everything else was mapped out accordingly to accomodate that, and surprisingly well. The city is organic and libertine.

*Rare vistas:*
www.visitingdc.com www.igougo.com

















Now *London* following numerous catastrophes this 2000 year old city has
been renewed time and time again, having been heavily damaged or
destroyed no less than 6x, alongside countless great fires, riots, sieges,
wars, floods and even hurricanes (the last one killed 8000 and blocked the Thames with 3,000 shipwrecks). 

http://abdulazeem.files.wordpress.com and www.historyplace.com

















The one great survivor is the medieval streetplan, from alleyways to 8 lane highways,
once drawn out by the meandering path of a cow to its watering hole.

winding streets:

www.flickr.com








my pic








http://photos.vequias.com and www.wikimedia.org

















The one great opportunity was following the Great Fire of 1666 when 4/5 of
the city was destroyed, however instead of the original plan to build
straight radial streets (akin to boulevard Paris), the population rebuilt along
the same winding lanes of old. Christopher Wren who rebuilt many monuments,
including the great cathedral of St Paul's and 117 churches, managed to instate
a city of brick and stone despite the failure of his streetplan:

www.studentbritannica.com and www.wilsonalmanac.com
















www.artandarchitecture.org.uk and www.wikimedia.org
















Following war and postwar planning the result today is a cacophonic mix of architectural styles,
possibly the most standardly mixed in the world, with residential densities
as low as 1400 per square mile rising to 400,000 by day (with the world's most expensive land 
values noone can afford to live in the centre, only work and play there).

www.wikimedia.org 










www.flickr.com










Paris is ghettoised, London plants the rich and poor, and every
ethnic minority side by side. Stunning beauty coexists with ugliness, vibrancy with
decay. What London lacks are the grand vistas, the sweeping views and
harmonious architecture - the epic streetlevel scales of Paris (and NYC), supplanted
by the crowded, kooky and intimate scaled.

Thanx to Kilgore Trout for these:

































The city looks far more dramatic from above, and much more normal from streetlevel, where the views are
obliterated and many landmarks hidden:

www.imageshack.us









In the 1980s 1/8 of central London fell derelict with the opening of new container docks at Tilbury.
The old dockyards fell into severe disrepair:

www.imageshack.us










However , after much bankruptcy and riding the wave of recession new development revived the docks
seeing them converted into luxury apartments and marinas, with a new business district in Canary Wharf:

www.acquiva.co.uk









Despite huge amount of development going on in the city ($250 billion
slated for the next few years in public projects alone) the city still preserves its past.
It's one of the most bureaucratic places to build, and the world's most expensive,
with exorbitant cost for little value, but to a high standard nonetheless.

The new rash of skyscrapers will only intensify an already mixed architectural
streetscape, from Victorian to Georgian to Edwardian to art deco to modern to
postmodern to post pomo on the average street:

www.skyscrapernews.com and thanx to El Greco for the second pic
















thanx to Atlan 










London is the greenest city *of its size* in the world (1/3 is open space).
Its also going Green, to get a car in the centre costs $16 a day,
up to $400 for high polluting goods vehicles. It's claimed 1000 people a month
die from pollution in a city the size of London, worse than traffic accidents
and 3x the yearly murder rate. It's the biggest current manifesto for the mayor.

Thanx due to El Greco









Kilgore Trout and www.bbc.co.uk
















Large planned areas survive from the gentry of old surrounding the parks,
from the squares of Bloomsbury to the stucco Palladian crescents of Nash:

Thanx to Atlan

































The green city SCROOOOOLLLLL -Note how it pales in comparison to the Parisian panorama- the density of the centre is completely hidden in green haze and broken up by the Royal parks.

London 2012 new skyscrapers, thanx to WJFox for these amazing renderings










a better idea, if the buildings were amalgamated into one cluster. An instant skyline in 4 years:











the 'hidden' areas:
www.jasonhawkes.com
















































http://shardlondonbridge.com









Believe it or not London does in fact have many zoning laws - 25 protected
viewing corridors (for example some of the highrises going up have to be
curved or slanting to 'get out of the way'), and *claimed as* the most protected
buildings in the world - well over 30,000 and counting - a nightmare
for greed driven developers.

Viewing corridors small and large:

thanx to Jonas and second pic WJFox, www.photobucket.com
















30-50 percent of all new residential developments have to be
devoted to 'affordable housing', and the lower floors to retail or public
space/entertainment venues. Many plans are redrawn due to strict
poring over of street level integration in this way. This doesn't mean the
old buildings are beyond threat though, with many being gutted and new
interiors being inserted - dubbed 'deathmasking' by the local activists.

www.wikimedia.org
















Before and after

www.dailymail.co.uk and www.skyscrapernews.com

















Highrise was once very out of fashion- 500 tower blocks were pulled down
by the 1990s and replaced with residential housing in traditional styles.
However since then there is a pressing need for density as the population rockets
(when for 30 years it was suburbanising). The protected ring of Green Belt means
the hundreds of thousands of new homes will be built on 'brownfield' sites - once
derelict/ industrial city land.

www.bbc.co.uk and www.chg.org.uk
















The Green 'Belt' under attack:

www.imageshack.us









Thames Gateway expansion

www.jafud.com









Such is the housing market and growth in newcomers to the city that the middle class
and young professionals share the same housing as the traditional working classes:

million dollar flats in West London, the iconic Trellick:

http://architecture-buildingconstruction.blogspot.com










The new skyscrapers only go up on top of brutalist bombsites of the postwar era. Believe it or not
there are 120 churches in the square mile below, 27 of them over 350 years old:

www.photobucket.com










Buildings (in)famously vie for space and attention, the juxtapositions are often inspiring without planning to be:

www.skyscrapernews.com









All this to a backdrop of rowhousing for rich, middle class and poor, and some of the grandest
department stores, institutions and offices of the former Empire.

QTLong, www.terragalleria.com and www.artesian.co.uk
















Thanx to Atlan


















































































*Transport*

passenger traffic on the tube lines alone:

Kilgore Trout and flickr.com

















This giant mess is served by the worlds biggest* suburban *commuter network and a comprehensive public
transport system *(though Tokyo has a larger system overall)*. This is the city with the first major suburbs/ sprawl, though dense and reliant
on train lines, and 80 years old already. There are 1200 rail/tube stations combined with the worlds
largest bus network:

www.imageshack.us










It serves the *suburbs* well, some of the world's first. 
Every Englishman's home is his castle as the old saying goes:

My own pic 








thanx to Atlan

















www.ravenstoneschool.com









And this outer city hides masterpieces that few know about too

www.unofficial-guides.com









Alongside more famous ones. these are the real setpieces:

www.windsorfestival.com www.greenwich2000.com www.easier.com
























with some soon to come:

www.e-architect.co.uk










However London is no longer intramuros Paris, and it no longer looks like this if ya know
what I mean, not since the Great Fire, the Georgians, the Victorians, the
Edwardians, the War, the Postwar, the contemporary times:

www.wikimedia.org










London today is *one* of the worlds most modern cultural and social scenes grafted
onto one of the most historic - the worlds great modern arts, industries and 
entertainment juxtaposed with millennial old institutions and traditions.

And some of the biggest CROWDS you'll see on an average day.
This is becoming a problem in the West End, in the entertainment districts and on transport.
Residential densities in the centre number only 1400-3000 per sq. mile, but by day it rises 
to the hundreds of thousands. By night some entertainment districts count 500,000 people
passing through in a single night, and 1 million on weekends, leading to the local council 
cracking down on licensing to little effect.

my pic and www.jibble.org
















Events like Christmas shopping or the Notting Hill carnival stretch
a creaking infrastructure to capacity with crowds of up to 2 million.

Thanx to Jonas, www.thisislondon.co.uk and www.globalvoicesonline.org























The city has 120 theatres, 1600 theatre groups, 600 dance troupes,
600 cinema screens, 300 art galleries, 300 museums, 320 markets,
340 languages, 350 mosques, 4000 churches, 10,000 pubs n bars,
15,000 restaurants, 500,000 - 1 million clubbers any given night,
5 cathedrals, 5 international airports, 6 palaces,
6 international orchestras, 7 rail termini,
85 major ethnic minorities, 189 nationalities, 87 sq. miles of parkland,
47.8 million tourists, and 140 million air passengers.

It is in short a behemoth of a creative mess, *in terms of cultural output*,
the worlds greatest city, including over 100 cultural events a day, and
200 festivals a year. With London's resurgence as the leading financial centre
and *one* of the most globally cosmopolitan cities, many Londoners 
(like New Yorkers) believe themselves living in the world's capital
(tho' NYC and Tokyo may well have something to say about that).

London streetfashions vie with Tokyo as the most inventive:

http://ftp2.dns-systems.net and www.trendspot.com

















although be warned, the Guidos of London: the Chavs aka the Burberry brigade:

http://cornerstonegroup.files.wordpress.com and www.sha-crawford.co.uk










What makes London great is the streetlife rather than the streets themselves (which aren't bad either).
The city *claims* to be the world's most multicultural, though depending on how you count it
Toronto, New York City and Dubai also lay claim to the title.

my pics













































thanx to Kilgore Trout

































































The city is unmistakeably gritty yet vibrant



















"If youre tired of London you're tired of life, for there lies in London
all that life can afford" Samuel Johnson:

my pics


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

ok I'm shattered, please visit again for Case 3 later.


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

the spliff fairy said:


> *Paris*


Squaring trees ain't fair planning, although you gotta admit it's cheeziness at its mightiest...






the spliff fairy said:


> www.skyscrapernews.com


Aha! It's for the very lack of that kind of novelty infused into highrises that I might be known to gripe about these boards here -- no wonder London has fun... plus the bustling scenes were great for people-watching, thanks!


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## Cunning Linguist (Apr 27, 2006)

Jesus.... top thread. What's your background?


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

my background? I'm poor and jobless and I have nothing to do 

credit goes to the photographers


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## Yardmaster (Jun 1, 2004)

^^ well spoken Spliff Fairy : excellent thread.


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## spongeg (May 1, 2006)

re: London

i don't if you ever saw this show but there is a series on either discovery or history or NG called Underground cities or something like that that explores various cities and places and what they have underground...

and they showed how hundreds of years ago they closed in all the streams of london and diverted them etc

pretty cool show and city...


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## gappa (Mar 13, 2007)

Facanating Spliffy!


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Great stuff! I look forward to your next cities!


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## ch1le (Jun 2, 2004)

brilliantly done, cant wait for more. But if you will, more info on the people who made the cities - Haussmann, Wren etc. 

Thank you!


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

ok Ill edit bits in.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

A commendable effort, but I'm sorry to say there are some errors unfortunately. Also quite a few exaggerations.

Some errors:


the spliff fairy said:


> OK First case one of the best planned cities, and justifiably famous for doing so.
> The plan is primarily for grandeur, optimisation of space secondary, and liveability a successful side effect.


No, the urban plan of Paris wasn't designed primarily for grandeur. That's a cliché (why people always have to use the word "grandeur" when they talk about France?). The reason why they widened the streets and built large avenues is primarily because of hygiene and health concerns. In the 19th century it was believed diseases appeared because of a lack of fresh air (theory of the miasms, see Wikipedia article: Miasma theory of disease). It was believed the small and meandering Medieval streets, the crowded housing conditions, were responsible for the occurence of epidemics such as the cholera epidemic of 1832 which killed 20,000 people in Paris (compared to only about 1,000 in London). The only possible remedy was fresh and renewed air, or so they thought at the time, that's why they decided to raze to the ground the old Medieval districts, enlarge the streets, and plan a new city made of large avenues and large apartments where the air could flow freely.

The idea of urban vista and "grandeur" as you call it was only secondary here, and a by-product of the desire to create an hygienic city. At the same time they also built the Paris sewer system, which of course was the main cause in the reduction of epidemics and disease, not the widening of streets.



the spliff fairy said:


> Much of medieval Paris, already recovering from the 1871 siege of the Franco-Prussian war that severely damaged it,
> was obliterated by Baron Haussmans plans for radial streets and grand boulevards, (notably Le Marais district still survives):


You seem to be confusing time and dates here. Haussmann was prefect of Paris before 1871, not after. His transformation of Paris took place in the 20 years before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.

Also, the siege of Paris in 1871 did not damage what was left of the Medieval center of Paris at all. The Germans only partly destroyed the outer arrondissements through shelling (arrondissements 12 to 20). Their shells couldn't reach the center of Paris. Most of the damages in the center of Paris were caused by the Communard insurgents who burnt down public buildings before surrendering. None of these public buildings they burnt were Medieval, and they did not destroy any Medieval neighborhood.



the spliff fairy said:


> Le Courbusier's design for Paris was to annihilate the centre and rebuild it along vast central avenues
> with uniform skyscrapers. It came very close to fruition, but was finally shelved due to cost.


That's not true, it never came close to fruition. Le Corbusier's design for Paris was looked with horror by Paris authorities, and was never seriously considered (it was just one entrant in a larger urban planning competition). It earned fame among urban planning circles in the world, but Paris authorities never considered it seriously.



the spliff fairy said:


> Thanx to Minato Ku - outer Paris and its styles


Here you have posted many pictures that are not outer Paris but that are inside the inner city. Minato Ku does not only post pics of outer Paris, he also post pics of inner Paris.

Now some examples of exagerated claims:


the spliff fairy said:


> It is the richest city in Europe.


Paris the richest city in Europe? It depends how you define "rich". In terms of GDP per capita I believe the city that has the highest GDP per capita in the EU is Luxembourg City.



the spliff fairy said:


> The result is a cacophonic mix of architectural styles, possibly the most standardly mixed in the world


If you submit your paper to an accademic jury, you should avoid bombastic statements such as "the most xxx in the world". As far as I know, a city like Beijing is even more mixed and chaotic than London.


the spliff fairy said:


> Paris is ghettoised, London plants the rich and poor, and every ethnic minority side by side.


Again, exageration. You overemphasize the ghettoisation in Paris (the Parisian suburbs are mixed contrary to the clichés on CNN or Fox News), and you overlook the ghettoisation that also exists in London.


the spliff fairy said:


> London is the greenest city of its size in the world (1/3 is open space).


Again, "most xxx in the world" type of statement. Besides, it is factually wrong (think Rio for instance).


the spliff fairy said:


> the most protected buildings in the world - well over 30,000 and counting


Another "most xxx in the world" type of statement, and again factually wrong I believe (the central Paris arrondissements 1 to 10 are almost entirely protected, just count how many buildings that makes; not that this is a distinction to be proud of, too many protected buildings stifle a city as far as I'm concerned).


the spliff fairy said:


> This giant mess is served by the worlds biggest suburban commuter network


Another "most xxx in the world" type of statement, and that needs double-checking (Tokyo?).


the spliff fairy said:


> the worlds largest bus network:


Same. You love those "most xxx in the world", don't you?


the spliff fairy said:


> the worlds great modern arts, most cosmopolitan population and largest entertainment industries and social scenes


Oh boy!


the spliff fairy said:


> And the biggest CROWDS you'll see on an average day.


Ever been to Shanghai? Any East Asian large city in fact.


the spliff fairy said:


> in terms of cultural output, the worlds greatest city


Oh boy! A rather "brave" claim we have here. Lol.


the spliff fairy said:


> The city claims to be the world's most multicultural, though depending on how you count it Toronto, New York City and Dubai also lay claim to the title.


Phew! A bit of relativizing at last. That saves the day.

It would be nice if you could rework the whole thing by correcting the factual errors and removing the excessive claims and statements. Also ask Minato Ku which pics are inner Paris and which pics are outer Paris.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Brisavoine Ive taken your points and will edit them in ad nauseam.

When I say stuff like the biggest crowds youll see in an average day I dont mean 'in the world'.

London has the largest suburban network, Tokyo has the largest public transport network (and yes Ive put that on my coming Tokyo thread) - if you read between the lines millions of Tokyoites live in what youd call their dense city proper and beyond, whereas most Londoners live in suburbs (think suburb*ia*) and commuter towns in the Green Belt. Whereas the Tokyo system uses huge transport infrastructure to get about their city, less of it is as complex [for their suburbs] than London's is. -And yes London does have the largest bus network, largest underground network and largest *suburban* network, but only the second? largest *mass transit system*. (btw the map I put up is only part of the bigger SE network).

I didnt particularly want to go into details but:

London is the centre of the global art trade (and stolen artefacts in its museums) - although you could say the centre of where art is being produced is no longer London but Berlin/Beijing, but is exported to London for sale. Also the tens of millions of amount of art pieces in London, accrued from the worlds largest Empire, is larger than any other city. It has the worlds largest antiquities Museum (7 million pieces), the biggest applied arts museum (4 million pieces) and the worlds largest private collection (the Royal Collection 1 million pieces) to name the top 3 out of 300. And that's not even starting on the modern art.

It has the biggest (and according to Lonely Planet, Time Out and Rough Guide -best) live music and clubbing scenes, without a doubt in terms of numbers- 500,000 a piece per night, choice and venues. It also has arguably the best theatre in terms of variety and quality of productions, and in choice. Don't get me started on the pubs. In terms of drinking establishments Tokyo beats anywhere in the world by far (and Ive put that in my Tokyo thread), but in terms of the rest London.

It has 85 major ethnic communities and speaks more languages than anywhere else claims to, with 340. 50 -60% of the inner city is foreign born, 30% of the outer according to the latest stats (whatever you do dont go by the 2001 census which is laughably out of date and was undercounted anyway), which is on a par with NYC at the height of its immigrant heyday. Depending on how you count it one type of claim will put London at the top of the contentious title of 'most cosmpolitan', though NYC in population numbers counts more I'm sure, but not in such a variety, and Dubai counts more in percentages but again not in such a variety.

There is very little ghettoisation in London (and when I say ghetto I dont mean just poor or rundown area persay, I mean groups of one class or ethnicity). the city is justifiably famous for bucking the trend. The highest ethnic majority is 70% South Asian in the Chalvey area of Slough and even then they are made up disparate multicultural communities. The reason London houses its rich and poor side by side, which is normally the defining factor in creating racial ghettoes, is the tradition of mixing classes from Victorian days. When building the grand estates for the rich they had to be produced among lower class areas in order for them to get the best prices. Building a Nash crescent in crescent-rich Belgravia would get an average asking price than the ready money from creating such an estate in salubrious Covent Garden. Moreover when the rich moved out many surviving rich ghettoes - houses with as many as 30 bedrooms - were converted into flats and bedsits for the poor and middle classes.

Nowadays many poor estates (read: council tower blocks) are in such regenerating areas they command upper middle class prices, as pretty much the whole of London. Thus you get the rich supplanted by the poor equally as the poor supplanted by the rich. Racially its a huge mix too, London does have ethnic foci such as Southall, Brixton, Peckham etc but to the shock of Londoners themselves these areas are actually majority White mix. These areas have large ethnic businesses and shops and attract their ethnic clientele. Many people on the street are 'out of town' shoppers, they dont all live there. London is much more mixed ethnically than Paris. The London house prices ensure noone can choose *who* they want to live with.

In terms of cultural output an article published this year states that. In terms of daily events, yearly festivals, stage production (twice that of NYC), number of galleries and museums- over 300 each, and the size of the museums/galleries. Also according to the Economist 2008 Britain tops the league for cultural exports (Im not sure what that is exactly but i can look into it).

I heard for a long time about the Listing system of London architecture that it was the largest such body in the world and with 20,000 buildings in the early 1990s covered produced the most protected buildings legislation in the world. I don't know what Parisian legislation is concerning changing old buildings but the London one is graded on I, II and III. All buildings over 100 years in age gets automatic listing on Grade III at least (grade I means you cant change them at all), and thus a few years ago the number had risen to 30,000, I've no idea what it is today but its is far higher considering the brick terraced housing that's just come into listing status. Im sure Paris has many many more worthy buildings - you only need to look at the panorama - but Ive no idea about the protection laws for them and how/which they are applied to. You could say London's laws are less discerning, for example by 2020 tens of thousands more suburban London houses, and the Garden cities, will be automatically listed.


Paris GDP is higher than London's and any other European city's. $629 billion against $446 billion (though I know I know I know the London metro is higher).

Beijing NO WAY has the mix on the average street that London does, its sharply delineated in its styles, more so than your average city let alone London. The one city that perhaps does have more or the same mix, from Roman to Nineteenth Century to imported immigrant styles *on the same streets*, is coming later... watch this space.



Please, Im not making it up out of breathless hyperbole. I dont particularly want to add all that into my London thread either, it would be more essay than photo essay, and thbat really would be a rundown list of why, who, where etc that place has the title over somewhere else in the world - which really isn't the point of the thread.


----------



## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

the spliff fairy said:


> There is very little ghettoisation in London (and when I say ghetto I dont mean just poor or rundown area persay, I mean groups of one class or ethnicity). the city is justifiably famous for bucking the trend. The highest ethnic majority is 70% South Asian in the Chalvey area of Slough and even then they are made up disparate multicultural communities.


If 70% is not a ghetto, then I don't know what's your definition of a ghetto. I lived in Camberwell, and I can pinpoint several places that are and are seen as ghettoes (Black ghettoes in this case). I also distinctly remember these maps of ethnicities in London showing that ethnic groups tend to concentrate in certain areas instead of spreading all across London (the Indians in north-west London, the Blacks in southern Inner London, and so on).

By and large, I don't see much difference with Paris. You say there are ghettoes in Paris, but for your information there is not a single suburb of Paris where immigrants make up the majority of the population. The suburb with the highest percentage of immigrants is Garges-lès-Gonesse where according to the 1999 census 37% of people are immigrants (incl. people from overseas France). That's still 63% of people who are not immigrants in that suburb. I believe the image foreigners have in mind regarding the Parisian suburbs is largely distorted by medias such as CNN or Fox News. You should check the thread  Urban diversity in the Paris suburbs for a more realistic view of the Paris suburbs.

From my personal experience, and this is confirmed by statistics, people in Paris are more mixed across the place than in London. This is not really surprising considering that the model chosen to deal with immigration in Britain so far has been communautarism (immigrants are encouraged to live within their community, and keep strong community bonds), whereas in France the model chosen is the so-called Republican integration where immigrants are asked to leave behind their community ties and melt their identities within the French society. Each model has its pros and cons of course, but a result of the British model is much more ethnically separated neighborhoods than in France.


the spliff fairy said:


> In terms of cultural output an article published this year states that. In terms of daily events, yearly festivals, stage production (twice that of NYC), number of galleries and museums- over 300 each, and the size of the museums/galleries. Also according to the Economist 2008 Britain tops the league for cultural exports (Im not sure what that is exactly but i can look into it).


I would not use the English press as a reference for claims about London same as I wouldn't use the French press as a reference for claims about Paris. In most countries of the world, national medias tend to be a bit chauvinistic and make claims that please their audience. After all in France there are still some newspapers which claim that the Tour Montparnasse is the tallest in Europe. :lol: And the English press refer to the London Bridge Tower as the tallest tower in Europe, even though it will in fact be shorther than towers in Moscow and Paris. So I would take those sources with a big grain of salt.

I would simply remove all the "most xxx in the world" claims, because it's always possible to find another place in the world that will outdo your claim, unless your claim is very well established with solid references (e.g.: Tokyo is the most populated metro area in the world, or Dubai has the tallest tower in the world).


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

I do suggest you check those London stats for yourself yes, many south Asians may live in 'the West' and Bengalis in 'the East' and Caribbeans in the 'south', but these are still not exclusive 'neighbourhoods', they are vast areas of the city. These strets are very mixed, you may have lived in Camberwell and seen the large amounts of Black Caribbeans, but these areas are not residentially majority Black, they are the _focus _of the community and hence draw alot of shoppers and workers and drinkers etc. but not necessarily residential people. Ive lived in Peckham, New Cross, Brixton, Brick Lane and been also shocked to discover the area is actually majority White in terms of the people living there. I hope you get that.

Londons largest ethnic minorities- it may look like people are congregating *but check out the percentages*

Bear in mind many of these communities are split into their own disparate groups, eg the Africans and Indians

Darkest areas account for 58.2% at the highest









Darkest areas account for 35.7% at the highest









Darkest areas account for 22.9% at the highest









Darkest areas account for 5.35% at the highest









Darkest areas account for 54.2% at the highest









Darkest areas account for 13.3% at the highest









Darkest areas account for 19% at the highest









I will now carry on with the thread if i may.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Thank the photographers Thanx to Olahtipota











*Athens* - a lesson in organised chaos

Spot the Byzantine church (there are 3)
the luxury apartment block
the construction cranes
the Nineteenth Century villa

imageshack.us










Not many people know this but Athens is an awe inspiring city when it comes to density, go to the cafe at the top of Lykavitos Hill to see it for real,
a sea of 6-12 storey apartment blocks (with the Kiffissia area once the third most crowded in the world).
Some of these pics are a bit dated now, just imagine it a sea of white Olympic-cleaned midrises:

http://personal.pblogs.gr









www.airphotos.gr










Unlike other cities the street width to building height ratio has no guidance,
its one big optimisation of space. The only limits are the height.



















www.goddess-athena.org









Basically the city is hemmed in by mountains and sea on all sides.











Lykavittos Hill and the view from the top:

www.athensguide.com
















suomipoika www.imageshack.us









www.istockphoto.com
















^Athenian cats can CLIMB up to 12 storeys from balcony to balcony. Each of these apartment blocks work,
like a mini village and without the social problems associated with highrise living. The blocks are mixed use
with offices, doctors surgeries, communal spaces and residentials all shared within. What stands out with
Athens as a city is the strong community.

Lykavittos is the steep hill behind:
www.greeklandscapes.com









the density from satellite view. The official population is 3.5 million, the unofficial 5 million:

the heart of the city: the Acropolis
the following www.intute.ac.uk

















the centre - traffic is a major problem along with pollution trapped in the basin
The govt ordered people with certain number plates use their cars on certain days, and
vice versa for the rest. The catastrophic result was many drivers buying both types of
allowed car and increasing their usage, though this is less of a problem nowadays. 

In the East the city has 'broken through' a gap and started to suburbanise toward the coastal strip of towns.

http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov









close up of the peninsular at the bottom:

www.airphotos.gr









thanx to leafs fanatic










Even the suburbs are highrise with only lowrise zones for the villas and mansions of the rich.

leafs fanatic










The focal point (and height limit) is of course the hill to end all hills in Athens. One of the few nods to civic pride:

thanx to Giorgio









Giorgio



















Thanx to Savas and Neorion
















and as it was in Ancient times:
thanx to Girogio www.imageshack.us









and in the Nineteenth Century the rest of the city:
www.athensguide.com/oldcity



























the old town still survives near the Acropolis

thanx to Southern European









Following thanx to Giorgio










































thanx to Savas


















And there has been much restoration of the old buildings all through the city for the 2004 Olympics:

Monastiraki in the 1970s
nastyathenian









Savas









thanx to Christos7



























Ancient hillsides punctuate the city in a true sea of humanity

leafs fanatic









www.mcullagh.org


















This density demands high quality eco friendly public transport, in diverse ranges.
Much of the infamous pollution has been curbed by vast renewal in the Olympic makeover
along with an updated social and commercial centre:


new trams









a fleet of hydrogen powered buses
Christos7









Bikepaths
Giorgios









an extended showpiece metro that displays like a museum the cutaway walls and artefacts found below ground.

Savas and stephen pougas www.flickr.com www.tourtripgreece.gr






















www.archaeometry.gr and http://ec.europa.eu
















www.traveltoathens.eu and leafs fanatic

















and a revitalised centre:

leafs fanatic









http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr









Savas
















leafs fanatic



























some people think these parts of Athens are ugly, I think theyre feckin beautiful

my pic









Suburbs again, the authorities dictate sun blinds be green to add to a 'greenery' feel, but some get away.
The city has a very languid Mediterranean feel.

www.imageshack.us



















...though fast forward to post Olympics and the buildings have been CLEANED. Has something been lost?:

http://whirledview.typepad.com










although other parts are undeniably beautiful

leafs fanatic










and better for it:

leafs fanatic









and giving way to Athenian homegrown 'decorations'










SouthernEuropean






















to cut a long story short, in all the chaos there is a uniformity of decision.
The density shows the intensity of unity - harmony or chaos? (or harmony through chaos?):











with islands, whether they be hills, ancient ruins, churches or greenery










Christos7










Christos7 greenery









www.airphotos.gr








neorion









Giorgio


















leafs fanatic









leafs fanatic










Spot the church again. These places of worship are traditionally built in places picked by auspicious dreams
or circumstance, and cannot be moved or destroyed. One of the Athens myriad idiosyncracies...

www.imageshack.us









from one island to the next

www.flickr.com










parting shot from savas


----------



## Astralis (Jan 28, 2007)

Very nice thread. The best looking part of Paris for me is definitely La Defense :master: :bow: kay:. :cheers:


----------



## PedroGabriel (Feb 5, 2007)

what an impressive work, easy to read and understand, and very comprehensive, never thought to see such quality in threads here. Congrats spliff.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

*Welcome to Tokyo*
TR-909+









http://knowledge.allianz.com and http://www.citynoise.org

















*the worlds biggest city by far*, 34 million strong in the contiguous area, 45? million by CSA counts. SCROLL RIIIIGHT

http://image.blog.livedoor.jp 










yep, keeeep scrooolllinng

http://chiri.xrea.jp










Tokyo has grown so large the govt is now levelling hills and mountains to accomodate it 
(65% of Japan is forested, one of the highest percentages in the world) alongside huge 
land reclamation from the sea. It is hemmed in on all sides and connected by strips of 
urbanity to the other metropolises of Honshu.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov and http://www.mapwatch.com

















heavily developed riverside:

http://tokyoyakei.jp











Tokyo is a relatively young city by East Asian standards. As a small village the Shogun built Edo-Jo in 1453,
what would become the worlds largest castle. The city that sprang up would time and time again become 
the worlds largest city, in different periods during the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries. Time and time
again this metropolis would be destroyed by fire and catastrophe, what would be dubbed *the flowers of Edo.*

In the 16th Century the rapidly growing city was split between the high town and low town, high for the court and rich 
merchant classes, low for everyone else. The low town, Shitamachi crammed an incredible 182,000 people per square mile,
a city dwellers life there was bawdy and good natured though poor, but the vast pleasure districts came with the crime too,
from murder, drunkenness to common child prostitution, in contrast to the echelons of the higher town. The life span of a
building in Shitamachi averaged 20 years.



http://www.loc.gov/rr/asian 










Edo-Jo, the largest defensive structure ever built










to appreciate the massive scale of the castle, made up of 5 concentric rings of defences,
designed to confuse and trap attackers, below is the modern day site of the 
Imperial Palace. The castle once occupied the entire Imperial Park:

http://image.blog.livedoor.jp










*Tokyo the city shaped by disaster*

http://www.si.umich.edu









http://aog.2y.net










*Ok our study begins with a haunting story:*

In 1654 a long sleeved kimono was made by a royal courtesan named Kiku Ueno, who had noticed a
young Samurai of remarkable beauty at a temple ceremony and been immediately enamoured.
Although she never saw him again she made a murasaki kimono for herself, echoing
the purple cloth and design he had been wearing. However she grew sick and died shortly after on
16th January 1655, and the kimono was uncharacteristically inherited by another courtesan,
the cloth being too good to be buried. She too died almost a year later, having spoken shortly
before of being haunted by a 'beautiful shadow'. She was cremated on 16th January 1656, and the
unlucky robe was sold to a pawnbrokers. However the teenage girl who worked there, seeing the 
value of the cloth appropriated the piece herself,shortly after becoming a third 'victim' to die of sudden circumstance.

*At the time the city was recovering from a drought but had been lashed by typhoon winds - fire bells rang almost*
*without pause.* On 18th January 1657 the kimono was returned to Honmyōji temple, whereby the priest recognising 
it a third time, burned it in exorcism. However a 'sudden wind' sprang up and started a fire that spread through the temple,
and overcoming the Hikeshi fire services. 

This would forever be known as the Long Sleeves or Furisode Fire. The city burned for three days,
from the centre out to the outskirts, then back again. 300 palaces, 600 temples, 3000 shops
and businesses were destroyed, and over 100,000 killed. 44 sq km of the city was destroyed. 
Only nine years later London would follow a similar fate.

The* new city*

Funds were distributed from the empire to both Samurai classes aswell as commoners, and the great mercantile
centre was restored. 

www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp and http://www.syndetics.com

















Roads were widened alongside the space between buildings, with a firewall of empty space
that seperated the court areas. Temples and palaces were rebuilt by the river, along with numerous crossings - the single bridge
before had proved catastrophic in the fire, a bottleneck where thousands died. The last building to be restored was the 
empirical residence itself, Edo-Jo. *By the early 18th Century it was the worlds largest city with well over a million *
*residents. *However, one notable exception in the rebuild, in contrast to London, the city was still largely wooden.


In self imposed exile Japan had seen in a flowering of its arts and culture,
this was the period of the 'Floating World', a city of courtesans, labourers,
merchants, Samurai classes and geishas, the city divided between vast
court, mercantile, and entertainment districts.

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk and www.floating-world.org and www.hno.harvard.edu

























*Meiji Era Tokyo*

In 1854 ominous 'black ships' appeared on the horizon in Tokyo harbour. This was the
fleet of American Commodore Perry, breaking hundreds of years of Japanese isolationism.
This was a seminal event in modern Japanese history. 
The new Meiji Restoration, having wrestled back control from the Samurai classes, decided
to set up trade with these new peoples, rapidly adopting much Western technology and
fashions alongside a continuation of its traditional culture, that traded woodprints and
arts (the initially inferior 'Japonisme' that would influence the 19th Century art and impressionist
movements back in Europe) in return for an *industrial revolution, the worlds fastest yet achieved.*

www.mlit.go.jp and www2.city.tomioka.lg.jp
















apps.ngv.vic.gov.au and www.geocities.com/ninodamachi















www.dressaday.com 










"*Nothing cheers a builder like a natural disaster"*
On 11:58 am, September 1st 1923, American visitors on a swaying jetty in Yokohama
noticed a strange cloud on the horizon, moving from east to west along the waterfront,
and soon enveloping the whole view in silence. What they were seeing was the dust cloud
sprung up by the collapse of thousands of buildings. 

As lunch had been prepared by families across the city, toppled stoves ignited hundreds
of fires in the debris. Meanwhile the great bay swept away leaving fish stranded to the horizon.
It would come roaring back later in the form of a massive tsunami. 

The Great Kwanto Quake destroyed old Edo by fire and water and killed 140,000. To this day
it is the single most destructive and costliest natural disaster in material terms. Most notable were the deadly
firestorms that raged across the city, whirlwinds of fire sucking in buildings and people into a vortex,
a phenomenon seen in earlier conflagrations.

www.wilsonsalmanac.com









The National Museum and castle was annihilated, taking with them thousands of years worth
of priceless artefacts and works of art. This was the greatest loss of heritage outside China.

http://research.kahaku.go.jp and http://dev.nsta.org
















*A new slate*

The city was rebuilt on vast and impressive scale. If it had survived it would have been the worlds greatest
collection of art deco. In a matter of years it was set to overtake London to be the worlds largest city, but
was in turn usurped by NYC in its heyday:

http://images.artelino.com and http://www.memyi.us


















*The art deco city destroyed 1945*, the worst of the flowers of Edo:


www.wikimedia.org and www.pbs.org















www.ehistorybuff.com









*Not many people know this but Tokyo suffered twice the damage of Hiroshima.* This was the main reason
why it wasn't picked as an atom bomb site - it had already been destroyed in the worlds largest and deadliest bombing raids.
In one night alone 80,000 people died in dense firebombing, with 200,000 civilians killed in total for the war. One could stand in Hibiya and see clear across 8 km to Shinjuku.

http://image.blog.livedoor.jp









The clean up was grisly, thousands of immolated bodies and charred skeletons littered
the streets, thousands more lining the Sumida river as those who sought shelter were
drowned or boiled. Military documentation to this day is too macabre to publish -
in one park the remains of an estimated 8000 people created a gruesome pyramid, the
result of a firestorm striking a crowd.

http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org













*The modern city* rises once more.

The 1964 Olympics marked the entrance of Japan back onto the world stage
after the trauma of war and rebuilding:

www.aldaver.com and www.aia.org
















*The modern international style fitted perfectly in with Japanese mentality,*
especially having been partly sourced from the 16th Century Katsura Palace by early modernist
studies and theorists such as Le Courbousier. Instead of a royal residence of lavishness
and ostentation, the queen chose one designed on sartori and zen principles. 
Modernism was functional, clean, simplistic and perfect for rebuilding a nation. 
The International style in the West looked modern, in Japan it looked ascetic
with traditional undertones.

http://library.osu.edu









www.cartage.org.lb, www.flickr.com and www.cartage.org.lb




























The metropolis had become the worlds largest by 1968. During the 1980s Tokyo also became
the worlds richest city, a title it still holds today with an estimated $1300 billion economy.

www.imageshack.us











Tokyo has twice the amount of people in NYC in the same area, despite the shorter buildings.

www.stat.go.jp










The building codes of course protect against earthquake damage, with strict height restrictions.
Thus the limits of skyscrapers are often 600-850ft, with only a handful taller. However as the huge
business sector demands, the multinationals (the highest number of HQ in the world) need to fit in
larger floorplates than that allows. *The result are huge squat looking skyscrapers, sometimes breaking*
*up their mass by twin or multiple towers. In NYC or Hong Kong the buildings would be half the width*
*and double the height.* Tokyo has the worlds largest buildings by average floorspace, no 1 in the world,
but is only 5th in terms of skyscraper heights. 

http://building-pc.cocolog-nifty.com









www.imageshack.us










Believe it or not the Ropponggi Hills tower and arts complex has the same floorspace
as the Sears Tower,and may be the worlds biggest tourist attraction, accommodating
a million visitors on a weekend day.

www.wikimedia.org










The vast city is broken up into a chequerboard of different massings of buildings:

numerous skyscraper clusters:

www.imageshack.us









http://tokyoyakei.jp









midrise districts:

http://img294.imageshack.us










and myriad lower, denser neighbourhoods, often without street names or numbers.
These areas are the bane of taxi drivers and postal workers.

http://www.jefflawson.net










www.flickr.com









these in turn hold the most surprising thing about Tokyo,
thousands of traditional wooden houses, marking also
a trend from the 1990s to rebuild in this style:

www.airoots.org










Two storey houses
Thanx to Urbanflyer


















these districts also hide thousands of self designed, detached homes

www.inhabitat.com









this is the start of a city finally constructing lasting buildings, not the temporary
haberdash of centuries of destruction:

www.sadocles.nl









Omotesando stores:

http://galleries.ipcignite.com










http://markb-photo.que.jp and http://image.blog.livedoor.jp






















http://archrecord.construction.com 


http://kenplatz.nikkeibp.co.jp and http://english.chosun.com
















http://manoloshoeblog.com and http://creativeclass.typepad.com

















reemergence of civic pride

http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com












How does a city of 35 million transport its people? With the worlds largest
metropolitan mass transit system. The subway lines carry 7.8 million passengers
daily, yet only account for 282 out of 1558 rail stations.

Shinjuku station averages 3.22 million people a day, Ikebukuro 2.7 million,
Shibuya 2.4 million

http://www.jreast.co.jp








www.3deearts.com









And in all the vastness of the city lie numerous parks and oases of calm.
There are two things one must do in Tokyo, pick a direction and get lost,
and secondly if you see a park, visit it:

www.twoweekstillfriday.com








www.ee.usyd.edu.au and www.cs.washington.edu















www.carto.net










Not just size, but choice.

*Culturally Tokyo is a behemoth*, a truly global city. It has more businesses, shops, bars,
restaurants, clubs and museums than anywhere on the planet. And by far, even per capita for example:
NYC 5 boroughs counts 3000 bars, Tokyo counts 27,000 karaoke bars alone (and nearly
100,000 drinking establishments in total). London counts 15,000 restaurants, Tokyo
200,000 (300,000 places to eat in total) and just as varied a menu as London, from Belarusian to Yemeni.
Paris counts 94 Michelin stars for its food, the world leader. However when Michelin finally rated Tokyo
in 2007 they counted 191 stars, whilst receiving criticism many places were left out.


www.travel-earth.com









The legacy of the vast entertainment districts of old Edo, lives strong

www.flickr.com
















The business districts count the largest numbers of Global HQs, trade vast amounts of money
and retain the largest city economy in the world, despite a ten year slump (ending in 2005).

www.tokyoarchitecture.info, http://horsesthink.com and http://homepage.mac.com























However what Tokyo distinctly lacks, through no fault of its own, is the physical history.
Even the Imperial Palace, built on the ruins of Edo-Jo after the war, has concrete walls:

www.monasette.com and http://cache.eb.com
















However intimate scaled streets and wooden buildings survive in the backstreets,
alongside a strong continuation of traditional arts and culture, from Kabuki theatre
to Sumo and traditional arts taught at schools, from kendo to ikebana flower arranging:

http://greggman.com and www.wikimedia.org
















shinto wedding, 

www.valpo.edu









sumo, kabuki

www.karate.org.pl and www.asiagrace.com
















The other thing Tokyo lacks is diversity, in contrast with other Asian cities. As of 2005, the five most common foreign nationalities found in Tokyo were
the Chinese (123,661), Korean (106,697), Filipino (31,077), American (18,848) and British (7,696). The only other major cities on the continent with so 
few minorities are Seoul and Pyongyang.

Yokohama Chinatown 

www.raubacapeu.net and www.flickr.com
















Of course old traditions continue alongside a flowering of contemporary Japan.
The teenage fashions are the most bizarre and daring in the world, this is
the place of inspiration for the bigshot designers, the cos-play streetwear
of troubled teenagers coming out before the catwalks of Milan and Paris. 
In the 1980s the style was rockabilly Americana, the 1990s was Victoriana
and uber-California, the 2000s sees traditional Japanese with cyber
twists, and serious 80s retro.


www.flickr.com and http://jeansnow.net


















*The 1990s freakshow,* 

bear in mind these styles are seriously dated on the Tokyo 'scene'

Kalifornia vs Gothic Lolita. IN a city of 35 million with strict social traditions,
the obvious nature of teen life away from the cookie cutter sacrifices for low
crime rates coupled with a strong economy, was the urban tribes. There were hundreds,
more so than any other city, from cybergoths to punks to suntan girls, to die hard hippies
and manga wannabes to urban samurai to surfers to skaters to rockabillies to glam rockers.


Its back to the Nineties!

www.flickr.com and www.theage.com.au, lemonodor.com























http://bp2.blogger.com http://www.dare.to
















and verging on art -people wrapped up in tubes/carboard boxes/sheets, slasher victims, dolls, robots.
As far as the traditionally bullied teenagers of the world go, Tokyo definitely leads over the next great
pretender here, London.

http://bp3.blogger.com, http://travel.3yen.com and www.aucklandcity.govt.nz























although the 2000s have seen in much more wearable and toned down styles,
heaven forbid, even understated...

http://web-jpn.org and www.tokyomade.com
















www.style-arena.jp

















...despite the 80s retro

www.trendstop.com, www.tokyomade.com and www.fashionmission.nl























of the myriad urban tribes of the 90s, punk has survived longest.

www.just-photography.com










Like San Fransisco, Tokyo is currently overdue by 15 years for its Big One
earthquake, a once in 70 year cycle. The next flower of Edo would probably kill more than 5,600 people and injure almost 
160,000 according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt. Official estimates of economic damage have topped more than $1 trillion.

http://japundit.com and http://hisaharu-motoda.petit.cc


----------



## Peshu (Jan 12, 2005)

Congratulations for a well thought out and exhaustive essay Spliff Fairy :cheers:
Having said that there is lots of bias on your behalf . Many people consider to be living in the capital of the world . Many in Madrid will tell you this . Simply because it is the capital of what was once one of the biggest if not biggest empires in the world . Also knowing that Madrid is the nightlife capital of the world adds to their belief . As Spaniards take having fun very , very seriously indeed . There is more construction going on in Spain than anywhere else in Europe . 

It is the country that is receiving the most migrants in the world apart from the U.S.A . In fact close to 800,000 a year . That is something else that cements their belief . The fact that m illions of migrants are seeing Spain as Europes new El Dorado . The Land of opportunity with a lifestyle without equal anywhere in Europe .

I know many people in Rio that Believe theres to be the capital of the world as only such natural beauty could have been made by god alone .
There are even people where i reside Melbourne that believe their city to be the worlds capital . The believe it is a perfect size city of close to four million with a very high standard of living , reasonably good climate and incredibly well planned .

And if you could just answer me one thing . This famous Samuel Johnson frase you guys always bring up . Since London can afford everything imaginable and i'm a person that loves beautiful beaches with a warm climate . Where would i find this ? And London having this part-time street scene full of people . Like i've said part-time . I have been there on many a night when it has been absolutely dead . Climate has something to do with this . But it still has nothing anywhere near approaching the late night mentality a Spaniard has . Not even in the same planet .

How about the fact that it is so terribly planned . It's crap weather.Another couple of reasons why many people sarcastically refer to it as the bleak capital of Europe .I myself have always felt London to be enormously over-rated . Theres not much i like about it in fact . 

So you see how subjective this subject can be ? Different tastes for different people . Many people consider Paris to be the capital of the world . For unless your on drugs you will easily recognise that it is an architectural wonder . I can see this . So can any other normal person . Yet in Europe i still prefer Madrid . Because for me even though it can't compete with Paris in an architectural sphere it is still quite awesome . And it has a fun vibe which no other city in Europe can compete with .:cheers:


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## Ian (Nov 26, 2006)

^^ I agree with you...

You have done a great job in compiling all this material Spliff (especially for the breathtaking pics), but some of the 'facts' you put in all the cities are really biased...

And all the fuss about London nightlife and streetlife is also a bit annoying, have you ever been in Rio, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Athens and dozens of other cities in this world?????? So please... , with just deleting some of the... "XXX city has the best/most/biggest XXX thing" this thread would be perfect... kay:



Peshu said:


> I myself have always felt London to be enormously over-rated . Theres not much i like about it in fact .


:weirdo: :lol::lol:... Well, i haven't travelled much, but i've been in London and as soon as you arrived it really feels like being in the centre of the universe; maybe you can say that the city don't have that vibe, street and nighlife of other places, but saying it's overrated is just too much... 

PS: I'm waiting for New York, Moscow, Rome, etc...

:cheers:


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## acc521 (Mar 26, 2008)

You could always do one on Perth, the most boring and isolated Capital city on the planet!

Of all the places I've been to, I'd have to say Hong Kong (Lan Kwai Fong/Central) and Melbourne (CBD) have the best nightlife. But I haven't been to Europe or the US yet. I would think that most 'international' cities would tend to have a good nightlife each with their own vibe.


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## Koen Acacia (Apr 17, 2007)

Please let's not turn this into a city vs. city thing folks. Both Madrid and Rio are great cities too, I'm sure they will get their own post here in due time.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Right ad nauseam, if you'd actually take care to *READ* my fucking thread can you tell me where exactly Ive put xxxx in the world? I can edit it all out if you so wish.

Please see below before libelling eh? Don't just take a cue off one person's trolling like comment, without READING the original post.

Peshu, do tell me where Ive put say, London has the best nightlife? Or is the best city in the world?

(in my opinion nightlife-wise it would be Tokyo for choice with 100,000 bars -compared to London's c.10,000-followed by Madrid for its 30,000 bars and 24hr citylife, followed by Belgrade for sheer up-for-it 7 nights a week). Alot of people put London top for quality of music and choice of styles. But hey, that's an OPINION and I would have the brains to state is as such.


...and btw stuff like this is the *numbers *talking:


"Culturally Tokyo is a behemoth, a truly global city. It has more businesses, shops, bars,
restaurants, clubs and museums than anywhere on the planet. And by far, even per capita for example:
NYC 5 boroughs counts 3000 bars, Tokyo counts 27,000 karaoke bars alone (and nearly
100,000 drinking establishments in total). London counts 15,000 restaurants, Tokyo
200,000 (300,000 places to eat in total) and just as varied a menu as London, from Belarusian to Yemeni.
Paris counts 94 Michelin stars for its food, the world leader. However when Michelin finally rated Tokyo
in 2007 they counted 191 stars, whilst receiving criticism many places were left out."
*
I can no longer change this as change the numbers.* If you don't like these numbers I do suggest you look away or something. I hope you realise there may well be a city with xxx in the world, like FOR REAL. That may not be your personally chosen preference. 
*
And without anyone making it up.*

...and again I can't believe I have to write about this shit below, on why London is so multicultural or is the centre of the art trade or how its minorities (with blimmin maps) are demographically spaced out, *when it has no relevance to a. the thread and b. WHAT I SPECIFICALLY WROTE*. This is not a city versus city thread though its being hijacked as such.



the spliff fairy said:


> Brisavoine Ive taken your points and will edit them in ad nauseam.
> 
> When I say stuff like the biggest crowds youll see in an average day I dont mean 'in the world'.
> 
> ...


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Right, Ive gone and highlighted certain sections for further clarification, in case people cannot read.

I get libelled one more time, with the same accusations, and Im taking the fucking thread off.


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## Peshu (Jan 12, 2005)

Whoah . Spliff Fairy . Take it easy dude . I've always found you to be a sensible and considerate forumer on all thethreads i've coincided with you . 
My point was that different people can think the capital of the world can be considered as such for different reasons . 

Can't take anything away from your brilliant and thought out discussions and absolutely brilliant photos you've posted . Keep up the great work :cheers:


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

BUT WHERE THE HELL HAVE I PUT ANYWHERE AS THE CAPITAL OF THE ****** WORLD???

That's what I don't get. Someone now reads your comment and takes it for granted that I must have put it some place, somewhere in my posts. It undermines everything I've done, and unfairly so.

I hope you get my viewpoint.


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## Peshu (Jan 12, 2005)

I'll be honest with you and tell you i can't be arsed re-reading and pointing out where i think you had written somewhere along the lines of reasons why some people consider London to be the capital of the world . But that New York and Tokyo might have something to say about it . Anyway it is true that when the capital of the world is mentioned London is one of the cities that many people have in mind .

Anyways . If i in anyway misunderstood you . Then my bad and i apologize :cheers:


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## Commissaire Maigret (Apr 30, 2008)

this thread is OUTSTANDING!! :master: :master: :master:

great job the spliff fairy, really good work!

my congratulation's, keep the good work


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Lets just get this straight to anyone else (not you Peshu - i'm more peed off with a pattern of behaviour starting from other forumers earlier on)

I HAVE NOT PUT LONDON IS THE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD ANYWHERE.

Thanx Maigret, the good things go to the photographers not me


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## ExtraMuros (Apr 12, 2008)

I HAVE NOT PUT LONDON IS THE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD ANYWHERE.

Of course, because the world doesn't need a capital.
And ALL these citiea are GREAT and unique in their own ways...


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

Peshu said:


> I myself have always felt London to be enormously over-rated . Theres not much i like about it in fact .


To me, London's gradual erection is for exploring -- the city'd be just like any other place, dull, had it the habit of forming anything/everything in obvious way(s) . . .


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## eastman (Feb 16, 2005)

wow..nice thread mate


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## Jünyus Brütüs (Jul 9, 2007)

@the spliff fairy

Your job is very very admirable, This is the best thread I've ever seen in entire SSC. Ive enjoyed every info and every picture of this thread. It was like a documentary slide. What can I say, just FANTASTIC!!

Ive already bookmarked the page btw...


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

Make more! We demand it!:cheers:


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## Istanbullu (May 20, 2004)

magnificient thread! kay:


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## omercank (Mar 9, 2007)

This is an awesome, amazing, fantastic thread... More properly it is a very informative and very well planned thread. Thanks for all your effort. I, personally, loved it!! :cheers:


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## Metropolist (Feb 15, 2005)

great thread ! i'm waiting for other cities to discover !


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## patch (Feb 21, 2007)

What a fantastic thread!

Ive learned more this afternoon about cities than any other time on SSC. Congratulations on a amazing thread!


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## trojans14 (Jun 26, 2006)

Awesome thread!!!!!!!


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## icebergsyndrome (Dec 8, 2007)

I cannot wait to see what cities are next. I'm jobless too right now so I REALLY cannot wait, ha.


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## Filip (Oct 10, 2003)

This is truly an outstanding thread!


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## Skybean (Jun 16, 2004)

the spliff fairy said:


> my background? I'm poor and jobless and I have nothing to do


:applause: Someone hire this man!



the spliff fairy said:


> credit goes to the photographers


Brilliant.


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## SnowPower (Jun 9, 2005)

One of the best topic i've ever seen on here!!!


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## Ni3lS (Jun 29, 2007)

Wow. you learned me a lot of Paris,London and Tokyo. Never knew the density of Athens :cheers:


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## ParisianStyle (Oct 20, 2007)

Your stuff is amazing ! All your threads are interesting with very beautifuls photos
Good job !


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## dnp (Apr 4, 2005)

Wonderful thread!! Thanks Spliff Fairy, looking forward to the next "episode!"


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## jodelli (Feb 4, 2008)

This is an amazing thread. Thanks, Spliff, and the photographers too.


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## city_life (Apr 4, 2007)

Can't wait for the next city man! Very good job


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## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

Amazing! Fucking spectacular. 

What's next?


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## Mr.Burn (Feb 6, 2007)

if your doing major cities, do mexico city next!!


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

the spliff fairy said:


> However when Michelin finally rated Tokyo
> in 2007 they counted 191 stars, whilst receiving criticism many places were left out.


Criticism? They're (also) pissed as hell about how the very same folks ignorantly unfamiliar with the Japanese dining experience schemed gradings the other way, in that a whole bunch of undeserving establishments have now got mentionings. I gather the reason for Tokyo's abundance of restaurants is due to their incapability at seating more than one half dozen diners....


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## Chibcha2k (Oct 19, 2002)

It took almost an hour to read, but it was worth every minute.

I hope to see Latinamerican case studies soon!


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## PD (Jun 11, 2007)

Cmon the next city Has to be New York.


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## kids (Dec 12, 2004)

Need a new page first.


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

PD said:


> Cmon the next city Has to be New York.


Hmmm, something tells me that either Mexico City or Sao Paulo might be next...


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## PD (Jun 11, 2007)

trainrover said:


> Hmmm, something tells me that either Mexico City or Sao Paulo might be next...


I would prefer a world class city or one with tonnes of history.

That's why NewYork. But Hong Kong, or a Shanghai wouldn't go amiss either.


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

PD said:


> I would prefer a world class city or one with tonnes of history.
> 
> That's why NewYork. But Hong Kong, or a Shanghai wouldn't go amiss either.


Mexico city doesn't have tonnes of history? You're having a laugh aren't you?


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## PD (Jun 11, 2007)

Svartmetall said:


> Mexico city doesn't have tonnes of history? You're having a laugh aren't you?


A little bit. 

But seriously I would love to see spliff fairys work with New York or Hong Kong.


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## acc521 (Mar 26, 2008)

Hong Kong would be awesome to do because that place is rich in history and the city never stays the same for too long.


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## Coneslammer (Jun 26, 2006)

Cheers Spliffy. It pleases me to know that there are others who are so enchanted and obsessed with cities and their functions!


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## Wuppeltje (Jan 23, 2008)

Amsterdam could be a nice case because it has interesting city expansions which are all very planned in a certain way. Or am I allowed to make one by myself?


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## Mr.Burn (Feb 6, 2007)

mm mexico city, its ginormous, and history is deeeeeep there. Lots of diferent architecture mixed there.


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## Koen Acacia (Apr 17, 2007)

Wuppeltje said:


> Amsterdam could be a nice case because it has interesting city expansions which are all very planned in a certain way. Or am I allowed to make one by myself?


Just make a new thread "The design of Amsterdam". That way, everybody's happy.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

ok ok I wasnt going to do another one, but watch this space.

its gonna be a new continent btw


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

PD said:


> I would prefer a world class city or one with tonnes of history.
> 
> That's why NewYork.


Tons or tonnes -- I still bet NYC ain't/wouldn't be it . . .


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Ill definitely do NYC some time, not just yet


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

^^ But surely after --say-- Istanbul, right? I`m just guessing which might be your next study!


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Istanbul page 2


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

^^ :doh: sorry!


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## Mr.Burn (Feb 6, 2007)

mexico city


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## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

I'm pretty sure Mexico City will be next.


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## PD (Jun 11, 2007)

Cmon spliff why not NYC, the worlds greatest city??


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## icebergsyndrome (Dec 8, 2007)

PD said:


> Cmon spliff why not NYC, the worlds greatest city??





the spliff fairy said:


> Ill definitely do NYC some time, not just yet


yah


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

PD said:


> why not NYC, the worlds greatest city??


_Whose_ world?

Hmmm, now I'm reckoning his next study's gonna be B.A.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

ok London and Paris have been updated on Pg 1


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## Mollywood (May 23, 2007)

Paris is as good as it gets! (with London a close secone) I'll take Paris over any city in North America, easily. Those pictures are AMAZING!


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## Mollywood (May 23, 2007)

PD said:


> Cmon spliff why not NYC, the worlds greatest city??


I think Paris beats New York, without a doubt.


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## acc521 (Mar 26, 2008)

So many awesome cities around the world. I want to experience living in them all


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## redstone (Nov 15, 2003)

Someone continue this thread!


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## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

omg this thread is soooooo awesome!!!

please do more!!
like hong kong or shanghai or beijing or seoul or bangkok or mumbai or delhi or moscow or cairo or any!!!!


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## diddy (Oct 28, 2007)

A very good thread and interesting reading. If any thread deserves to keep on going it's this one. Also very good collection of images.


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## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

hey spliff fairy, is this thread still going on?


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## AnOldBlackMarble (Aug 23, 2010)

travelworld123 said:


> hey spliff fairy, is this thread still going on?


I guess he got a job. :cheers:


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

man I wish it would, someone please feel free to continue. Truth be told I did try to continue this , did a big Mexico City one before it was deleted on SSP before even being published, at which point I quit in protest.... My plan was Shanghai, NYC, Buenos Aires too.

It takes a forever to collect the images over time, and yep, I got a job now


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## Bibelo (Oct 15, 2002)

congrats Spliff with your job, I enjoyed (and will enjoy) this thread alot.


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## nagara373 (Nov 9, 2010)

I love Paris.


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

This is the best thread on SSC, someon shound continue!


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Great thread indeed.

A question to the Paris experts - to what extent was Paris changed by Haussmann? I do know that brand new boulevards were carved out and masses of buildings demolished and replaced. Did any boulevards or indeed side roads follow old road alignments, perhaps just in a localised sense, even if width and buildings certainly changed?


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## Concrete Stereo (May 21, 2005)

brisavoine said:


> You say there are ghettoes in Paris, but for your information there is not a single suburb of Paris where immigrants make up the majority of the population. The suburb with the highest percentage of immigrants is Garges-lès-Gonesse where according to the 1999 census 37% of people are immigrants (incl. people from overseas France).


Surprising. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague all three have 45%+ immigrants, in total.

Which would make the most 'black' suburb of Paris an above averagely 'white' neighborhood to their standards.

[edit] ok, reacting on a remark of the 1st page, without noticing there were 5 other pages. Never mind.


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

^^ This is the ratio of people born outside metropolitan France and not the ratio of minorities.
By the way the very wealthy and very white 16th arrondissement has a higher ratio of immigrants than the more working class and more racially diverse 13th arrondissement.


The so called "immigrants" number of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague include people born in Netherlands of immigrant parents.
The stat given by Brisavoine are only by birth place (outside Metropolitan France).
A black man born of African immigrants parent in France is not included because he is not an immigrant.

Unlike what the Spliff Fairy believe there are not real segregation by race in Paris, we don't really have specifically black, arab, white or asian, immigrants, non immigrants, algerian...etc districts in Paris area.
The segregation is by income, weathy, poor district and fortunately we still have many districts in the middle wich are quite socially mixed.
Anybody can imagine that the population of the weathy districts is whiter than in the poorer districts.


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## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

should do a bangkok!!


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## Norf_London_boi (Nov 5, 2010)

Amazing work spliff fairy, loved every minute of it! Let's hope you find time to do another!


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## Mart Grazer (Jan 15, 2011)

Nice thread & Awesome pics...I wish i would be there.............


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## Marcin1987 (Aug 6, 2010)

Awesome thread, sadly it couldn't be continued. Great job though.


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## Clone (May 19, 2010)

Can I do a part about my city? Or is the spliff fairy the only one who is allowed to make them?


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Yes please! Do your own city^

Just throw in bits on its history and layout, and not just its dazzling features but also any problems or issues it is tackling.


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## Clone (May 19, 2010)

I come from Antwerp. A city in the northern, Dutch speaking part of Belgium.











The dutch name for the city is Antwerpen. And the legend goes that 
the name comes from "Hand werpen" which means "throwing hand" in dutch. 
A gaint called Antigoon used to blockade the river and ask toll. 
Until a roman officer called Brabo challenged him, cut of his hand and 
threw it in the river Scheldt. And so the name hand-werpen, antwerpen (throwing hand) originated
There is a big statue in the centre of the city made after the legend. 









This is only a legend an the real name probably comes from aan-werpen 
which means to throw and refers to the ships arriving. Or it comes from 
the Andouerpi, the people who lived here during the Roman times.

Antwerp was probably a Roman fort or settlement,certainly more than 
a small village because of the many Roman remainders that have been 
found all around the city.

Antwerp started as a small medieval city near the river.










But Antwerp only started to become a big city during the middle ages.
In 1352 the construction of the cathedral of Antwerp began. 
The Cathedral was completed in 1530










The city also expanded



















Antwerp started to grow rapidly and commerce was going well. The city expanded from a small city of 18 000 inhabitants in 1400 to 
one of the biggest trade cities in the world in 1560 with 100 000 inhabitants. The 16th century was Antwerp's golden age as a 
city and as a cultural centre under the reign of Karel V, emperor of the holy Roman empire, king of Italy and Spain and Lord of 
the Netherlands (Antwerp was a part of the Netherlands at this time)










Under Filips II the 30 years war started and Antwerp became the centre of the conflict. A big defence structure was 
build, the Spanish walls.










The war mean the end of the expansion of the city for a long time. 
Antwerp stayed under Spanish control but the estuary was under the control of the republic of the 7 united provinces (protestants).

When these walls where torn down they where replaced by big avenues. (Leien) and a bigger defence structure was build. 
Under Napoleon the first Docks where build.










The southern part of Antwerp was the centre of one of the most fierce battles in the Belgian independence war. 
The fort was destroyed and replaced by a new 19th century district complete with star shaped street patterns and monumental statues.





























Eventually the last walls of Antwerp were demolished and a motorway was build.


















The centre of the city still has lots of historical buildings. 








With the cathedral and the city hall as the most prominent ones. 

















Next to the river there is a remainder of the old city and citadel called het steen. The surrounding houses where all demolished when the quays where straightening









You can see the citadel standing next to the river near the ship.









The big avenues who replaced the Spanish walls are now flanked by apartment buildings of eight stories high.
Between these rather soulless blocks there are some very nice 19th century buildings to be found and also some rare high-rise.










The old justice palace 










The national Bank










The flemish opera house










The museum of fine arts (filled with paintings of Antwerp Painters with world fame like Pieter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony van dijck)










Outside this ring a lot of "herenhuizen"(litteral translation lord houses) can be found.





























So that's all for now, more will follow.


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