Economist.com Cities Guide: London Briefing - October 2005

News this month

Hit for six

A thrilling summer of cricket concluded on September 12th, when England claimed the Ashes trophy from Australia for the first time since 1987. The England team began the final test match at the Oval in south London with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. But inspired spin-bowling by Australia’s Shane Warne and some unconvincing batting by England conjured a nail-biting finish. It was left to Kevin Pietersen, one of England’s rising stars, to score a remarkable 158 runs on the last day and secure the draw which guaranteed the series win.

The result sparked widespread celebrations in England, with tens of thousands of people attending a victory parade in central London the next day. Even tabloid newspapers, normally football-obsessed, were jubilant. “Urncredible!” gushed one. “Fantashtic!” shouted another. Cricket observers have been unanimous that this summer’s series was the best in the Ashes’ 128-year history. Battle between the two sides will start again in Australia in late 2006. In the meantime, the Royal Mail is set to issue stamps celebrating England’s victory, including a 68p one ideal for posting letters Down Under.

An arm and a leg

A controversial new sculpture, unveiled in Trafalgar Square on September 15th, has rekindled debate over the role of public art in London. “Alison Lapper Pregnant” is a 3.6m-high marble sculpture of a naked, pregnant woman with deformed arms and legs. Marc Quinn, the artist, said the work “could represent a new model of female heroism”. Ms Lapper, a disabled artist who sat for the piece, hailed it as a “modern tribute to femininity, disability and motherhood.”

Some art critics have begged to differ: one likened the statue to a slimy bar of soap; another called it a “repellent artefact”. Its incongruous position alongside statues of British military heroes—including Lord Nelson, whose victory at the Battle of Trafalgar is being commemorated this year—has also drawn criticism. Some are mollified by the fact that Mr Quinn’s sculpture will disappear from Trafalgar Square’s usually vacant “Fourth Plinth” after 18 months. Its replacement, Thomas Schütte's “Hotel for the Birds”—a Perspex home for pigeons—is sure to generate more controversy.

'Ave a butcher's at this

Cockney, the east London accent famed for its rhyming slang, could be dying out, according to a recent study of young people living in Tower Hamlets. Sue Fox, a sociolinguist at the University of London, found that Bangladeshi immigrants are influencing the way locals, both white and Asian, speak. The new dialect—a mixture of Bangladeshi and English—not only has different vowel pronunciations from traditional Cockney, but also includes entirely new words, such as “nang” (good) and “creps” (trainers).

Meanwhile, a separate study from the Institute for Public Policy Research has revealed London’s cosmopolitan make-up. Analysing census figures, it found that foreign-born residents made up almost one-quarter of London’s population in 2001, an increase from 18.5% ten years before. In one area, Wembley, immigrants outnumber natives. Nigerians, many of whom settle in Southwark, and South Americans, who favour Vauxhall and Tooting, are the capital’s fastest-growing foreign communities.

Dismissed

Chelsea Barracks in west London, which has housed troops guarding Buckingham Palace since the 1860s, is to be closed and sold to developers. The Ministry of Defence said the buildings were dilapidated and too expensive to refurbish—even though some are less than 50 years old. The 250 troops occupying the barracks, on a 13-acre site between Sloane Square and the River Thames, will be moved to Woolwich Station in south-east London, home to the Royal Artillery, which will have a £50m refurbishment.

In the wake of July's terrorist attacks, some have wondered whether London’s security is being sacrificed for profit (Chelsea’s sale is expected to raise £200m-250m). But army-watchers point out that central London still has barracks that can provide large numbers of troops in an emergency. The redeployment is great news for Woolwich Station, which was built around the turn of the 19th century: previously under threat of closure, its long-term future now looks assured.

Death of a saleswoman

Gossip in Harvey Nichols’s fifth-floor restaurant rarely revolves around the stylish Knightsbridge department store itself. But on September 13th it was “Harvey Nicks” that became the centre of unwelcome attention, when a man strolled into the cosmetics hall and shot dead a shop assistant before turning the gun on himself. Police later identified the victim as 22-year-old Clare Bernal and her killer as Michael Pech, an ex-boyfriend previously employed by Harvey Nichols, who was on bail awaiting sentencing for harassing Ms Bernal.

Predictably, Ms Bernal’s murder has led to calls for greater protection against stalkers. It has also tainted the upscale store, with one commentator suggesting the killings reflected the “touch of 'Footballers’ Wives'” (a popular TV drama). Of greater concern to Harvey Nichols may be the poor health of the capital’s retail sector: sales in central London in August were 11.5% lower than the previous year, according to the London Retail Consortium.

Catch if you can

October 2005

Edvard Munch By Himself

October 1st-December 11th 2005

Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Norway's most celebrated artist, is perhaps best known for “The Scream”, a chilling portrayal of human anguish. (The painting has yet to be recovered after it was stolen from the Oslo Munch Museum in August 2004.) But this show of self-portraits at the Royal Academy sheds a more personal light on the painter, who ended his days in seclusion.

Works such as “Man With Bronchitis” and “Self-portrait Between Clock and Bed”, capture Munch's preoccupation with illness and death (his mother and sister both died from tuberculosis). The exhibition traces his development from a fragile, young art student into a tortured symbolist.

Royal Academy of the Arts, Piccadilly, London W1. Tube: Green Park or Piccadilly Circus. Open: daily, 10am–6pm; Fri until 10pm. See also the academy's website.

More from the London cultural calendar