A HIGH RISK OF VERTICAL SLUMS

15 January 2009

I HAVE been brooding on the article 'The new face of Canning Town' and Newham Council's new love affair with the tower block.

Why won't our council admit that high-rise living has already been at the root of much anti-social behaviour and is a proven cause of isolation amongst many communities?

More enlightened councils are seeking to right the wrongs of the 1960s and 1970s, yet Newham seems obsessed with encouraging buildings that have the potential to become vertical slums.

Certain developers like such developments because they can pile up the units and so maximise profit.

Newham needs housing, but low-rise and community orientated. What is being proposed for the Rathbone Market site and Queens Market flies in the face of a wealth of academic studies.

As for these structures being "iconic", well that sounds like pure developers' spin. - COMFORT PHILIPCIEN, Grebe Close, Forest Gate.