There’s nothing like an outing to Hackney to start the mind whirring about gentrification. And we can think of no surer way to start an argument than to wander into an unreformed East End boozer enthusing about all the new construction and upscale shops popping up in the neighbourhood. The term gentrification was actually born in Islington. It was coined in the 60s by sociologist Ruth Glass, who noticed the phenomenon of middle-class people......

Some new research has been published claiming that Elephant and Castle will become a top retail destination in the next 10 years. Now, we're as optimistic as the next blog, as demonstrated by our views on the 2012 Olympic logo. But, even for us, this seems quite a stretch. While the odd stall outside the shopping centre adds a bit of character to the place, the centre itself is a bit of a dive......

The fourth in our series of interviews with potential candidates for next year's Mayoral election. Previously: Victoria Borwick (Tory), Andrew Boff (Tory) and Warwick Lightfoot (Tory). Sian Berry is the Green's candidate for next year's elections. Unlike the Tory rivals we've previously interviewed, she is a strong supporter of the congestion charge. She's the only person we've ever known to use the words 'The North London Line is good'. And she's also got a......

Unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand since Blair morphed into Brown, the government has now put housing at the forefront of the political agenda, having realised that the current lack of residential units being built is totally inadequate. At the frontline of this campaign is the need to build more homes in brown-field sites in our cities so that we can edge towards those housing targets of about 200,000 a year.......

After a surprisingly quick public inquiry, a new skyscraper for the City of London has been approved. Called "the Walkie Talkie" by nickname lovers thanks to its distinctive appearance, the 160 metre tall building will be replacing a 100 metre 1960s tower currently on the site. The building proposals had been called in by the then Secretary of State for Communities, Ruth Kelly, after concerns were voiced by UNESCO at the increasing number of......

Supermarket wars found a new battlefield today as Tesco vowed to build affordable homes for its employees: Tesco is set to build homes for its staff to combat the lack of affordable housing in London. The UK's largest supermarket has allocated 13 to staff of the 250 flats it is building alongside the Streatham store in south London. The retailer already has "planning consent" and is in the "final stages of legal agreements," a......

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell......

A couple more proposed skyscrapers have emerged over the past week. Both of them are only at early design stages and seem to set new standards in bonkers architecture. We mean that in a nice way. If London has to grow tall, then it should do so in its own unique style. And quirky is what London has always done best. This curvy fiend is the proposed replacement for the forgettable 1960s tower at......