Has London become too commercial? (continued)

My feeling after writing part 1 is that, in fact, it is not London that has become too commercial but life itself; London has simply adapted to this new reality. And let us not kid ourselves, we are all at least partly responsible: there would be no Christmas shop display in November if we the public shunned it, no Halloween fuss, no Valentine day's silliness  (etc. etc. etc.) if we were indifferent. The commercial world will push us in a certain direction, but we are not forced to go that way, and they will soon change if enough of us react against it.

We do not have to eat at chain restaurants, buy everything at a supermarket, follow trends and fashions, over-consume and over-demand. We are not obliged to buy branded goods, support entertainment concepts or drink beers purely on the strength of a marketing campaign. This does not mean retreating to live in the woods, though that is one (extreme) solution, but rather to tone down our wants, scrutinise our needs and reject anything surplus to or not in keeping with our requirements.

But going back to how London is today compared to how it was, say, when I first came to live here in the end of the seventies/beginning of the eighties there is a great deal to say and most of it is largely positive. London has the great good fortune of being an 'old' city, graced with beautiful older buildings in many cases, and with a timeless feel about large parts of it. This, it has to be said, was done no favours by the civic planning and architecture of the period immediately after WW2 and up to the seventies, when money was initially tight and vision clouded by this; some of London's most execrable buildings date from this period. True, a lot of the newer buildings that have gone up since the eighties and especially in the 21st century are brash, modern, over-functional and too tall, and some of them will look also execrable in a few years time, but there has also been regeneration of whole parts of London that were derelict.

With the growth of the UK service industry and the decline of manufacturing the demands for buildings has altered substantially, influenced by the demands of new technology, a more prosperous world and, dare I say it, greed. Developers - and they are nothing new, great parts of London owe their existence to them - cannot make money unless they build, and the more cheaply they can build and sell expensively the more money they make. So money has always affected the changing face of London.

Once again, though, we are all guilty of being greedy : for more space, more comfort, more and better facilities, more material goods. No one forces us to do this, we like it, though I suppose you can argue that we have been seduced by it. Gossip, celebrity, flashy/trashy lifestyles are all fuelling the commercialisation but are being supported by us. Choice...

I love London and would have loved it to have remained in a kind of  early 1980s mode, but with the food and transport facilities available today; the gentler pace of life suited me. Life will change, though, no matter what our personal choices are and how cloistered we would like it to remain. What London must try not to do, however, is lose its individuality and quirkiness, what makes it stand out as a city. Let it be influenced by others but not become a copy of anyone or anything.

On the subject of London, commercial or otherwise, I will return soon.