Souls and soullessness in London

Looking towards the Tower of London and Tower Bridge from the More London development

I have been living in London for almost two years and there are still huge parts of the city I have never even been to, let alone explored. But I have been keeping a list of the bits of the city I really like: some are touristy, some are just boring residential places, but all are full of “soul” in the architectural and human sense. I also of course keep an orthogonal list of soulless places that I really don’t enjoy being in.

Soul

  • Herne Hill
  • Brixton
  • Catford South
  • The older bits of Soho
  • Covent Garden
  • Shoreditch (the triangle around Great Eastern St and the northern part of Shoreditch High St)
  • Regents Canal (around Mile End Park, Bethnal Green and Victoria Park)

No soul

  • The “More London” development between London and Tower Bridges on the southern bank of the Thames.
  • The new “town centre” around Elephant and Castle station.
  • The massive residential office blocks around Lewisham station.
  • The entire Canary Wharf precinct.
  • The “Silicon Roundabout” precinct near Old St station.
  • “Coal Drops Yard” development north of Kings Cross station.

Photograph: Looking towards the Tower of London and Tower Bridge from the More London development.