
‘Post-Fire London was a magnificent, beautiful compromise’ - pepys
http://www.apollo-magazine.com/post-fire-london-magnificent-beautiful-compromise/
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oska
It's an interesting article but I dislike the lead-in:

> Cities are fragile things. They can burn: Rome in 64 AD (possibly thanks to
> the Emperor Nero); Constantinople in 1203 (courtesy of the Fourth Crusade);
> Lisbon in 1755 (because of the earthquake); Moscow in 1812 (thanks to
> Napoleon); Hamburg in 1842; Chicago in 1871; San Francisco in 1906… But in
> terms of devastation, few urban conflagrations can compare with the Great
> Fire of London, whose 350th anniversary is being marked this year.

How about the fire-bombing of Tokyo and nearly all other major Japanese cities
during WWII? The fire-bombing of Tokyo is considered the greatest urban
conflagration in history with the US Strategic Bombing Survey conservatively
estimating one million homes destroyed. Or the fire in Tokyo after the Great
Kantō earthquake in 1923? Or, contemporaneous with the event described, the
Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, which destroyed 60-70% of Tokyo and is
estimated to have claimed 100,000 lives. [1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Meireki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Meireki)

~~~
prawn
To be fair, the article says "few urban conflagrations can compare" and then
you compared a few. Seems reasonable.

~~~
M_Grey
Except you could then add a few more, Dresden, Berlin, etc... and then a few
more. And a few more.

The article is chock-full of sophistry, and the lead-in just sets up the
mindset.

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oxymoron
Neal Stephenson paints an entertaining picture of the events surrounding the
plague and the great fire in _Quicksilver_. It includes a fictionalized
version of Robert Hooke with frequent references to his contribution to the
rebuilt city, and chronicles the early days of the Royal Society in general. I
truly recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction and the early
days of science.

~~~
macarthy12
+1 great series, long but great. I had read biographies of many of the
characters/historical figures, mostly Royal society type, before reading
quicksilver, and I can tell that Stephenson did also. The audible versions of
the books are great too. 60ish hours each

~~~
M_Grey
I love listening to them while playing a good videogame... perfect combination
of total mental immersions.

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randomsearch
I think the missed opportunity to design (rather than "redesign"; there was no
original design) London is an absolute tragedy.

Whilst the "winding streets" and "character" of London's awful road layout may
be romantic for visiting tourists, it has resulted in a city needlessly choked
with traffic, that feels cramped and claustrophobic compared to Europe's great
capitals. Some of London's most famous streets are heavily polluted by noisy
dirty standing traffic, and give little room for pedestrian movement.

The district around St Pauls feels so anonymous and cramped, in a way that
affects so much of London. London cries out for open squares, wider pavements
and pedestrianised areas. You need only visit Trafalgar Square (which itself
could use a redesign) to see how many people the few open spaces that exist in
London attract.

It's not a beautiful compromise, it's a failure to manage, it's a failure of
vision and ambition.

~~~
notauser
Well everyone feels different ways about these things.

The winding streets slow traffic down, making it safer to cycle around when
compared to the fast and wide roads of New York. They also block wind meaning
we don't get driving rain along straight avenues.

The lack of large squares and piazzas reduces the distance you have to walk
between places, which is very important in a damp environment. It takes ages
to get anywhere on foot in Mexico City for example whereas you can walk all
the way across central London in a couple of hours. I routinely walk to
meetings around the city and it rarely takes more than 20 minutes.

Rather than try and spread the city out planners are working on removing the
cars and lorries. New pollution taxes, electric and autonomous vehicles, and
pedestrianization of key roads like Oxford Street, are all going to work
really well in the London model of a dense core whereas they won't add nearly
as much to a city which is more spread out.

~~~
randomsearch
> The winding streets slow traffic down, making it safer to cycle around when
> compared to the fast and wide roads of New York.

I think the way to provide safe cycling is not to slow the traffic down, but
to separate cyclists and cars.

I looked for stats. Death rates in NYC and London are similar, but I couldn't
find much comparable data on the number of cyclists or usage.

> They also block wind meaning we don't get driving rain along straight
> avenues.

That's a fair point, but presumably having well-designed streets still allows
for this, e.g. by staggering roads?

I agree that electric vehicles will greatly reduce pollution, you'll still be
walking through dense standing traffic in many areas.

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reledi
FYI There's recent evidence that the fire didn't start on Pudding Lane:
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12109005/great-
fire-o...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12109005/great-fire-of-
london-origin.html)

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dredmorbius
How did Paris address the property claims challenge to redesigning itself in
the 1700s and 1800s?

