Today’s society is all about the feels.

We seem happy to let truth take a back seat to emotions, clearing the way for savvy political and commercial operators to grasp the levers of power, simply by stirring up a spot of passion…or anger…or chucking out a few unrealistic feelgood promises.

So it seems strange, in this wholly unserious climate, when a powerful organisation regularly hits all the wrong notes. Turns out it’s quite a bit harder to succeed at this game than simply whacking up the volume to 11 on the positive mood music and reaping the rewards.

While we may all be complicit in prioritising ‘the vibes’ today, the public are not fools. There’s a deep distrust of cackhanded attempts to make us believe a project is a bright and shiny new thing when we can see with our own eyes that it really isn’t. Every time we see this at play, or experience the failure of what was promised, the negative cries of “Broken Britain” become harder to dispel.

And in a society that’s all about the feels, this then becomes a serious issue for democracy and quality of life.

Take, for example, the perennially frustrating public realm redevelopment of Kentish Town’s historic Queen’s Crescent Market.

For those not familiar with this long overlooked, chronically underused destination, it was once one of London’s most important street markets; where Sainsbury’s first grocery chain store was located, Patak’s curry condiments were founded and Crescent namesake Queen Victoria herself reportedly used to ride through on her way to take in some fresh air up at West Hampstead.

Over eight years ago, the Council won £1.1m from the GLA to revitalise what had by then become a sadly neglected, down-at-heel strip.

Traders simply wanted electricity points that worked, better storage space and perhaps a bit of an upgrade to the general air of tattiness. Instead, they got years of consultations by expensive external agencies, a mismanaged low traffic neighbourhood rollout seen only as reducing footfall, and now – near on a decade after the money was allocated – the imposition of a frankly bizarre craaaayzee paving scheme that has seen the entire area dug up as an ongoing construction site for months on end. It is still far from finished (see main pic above).

Tom Young, who has run the bread stall on the market for many years, suggests that fancy swirly curb stones are “a very superficial response to the obvious fact that things aren’t ‘vibrant’. When asked to address an ordinary place, a kind of ‘best village green of the year’ mentality seems to surface,” he says of the unpopular designs now being imposed.

Meanwhile, on one flank of the Crescent sits the West Kentish Town Estate, built just over 50 years ago after the forced clearance of rows of small Victorian homes (that would doubtless be valued in the multi-millions if they were still there today).

Shoddy 1960s prefab practices and years of underfunded maintenance mean the estate is now crumbling. This poor design and its decline are the kind of problems councilors acquire in post as no direct fault of their own, however, how they manage the storytelling about how to fix these issues during their tenure and for the longer term is vital.

Sounding rather too like a Putin landslide in another questionable Russian state election, a staggering 93% of residents apparently voted yes to the proposed complete demolition scheme that has just gone up for planning.

Clearly, asking people if they want a better flat is a vote winner, but the overall proposals certainly do not look like they have residents’ interests and futures at the heart of every decision.

Huge additional building heights to accommodate vast numbers of private sale flats, the destruction of green spaces and trees, and a staggering 20 years (and the rest) of construction impacts on the local area are just a few of the red flags that have got concerned local residents mobilised in opposition, ahead of the deadline.

Faith in the consultation process, once again, feels minimal. Faith in ever seeing the actual delivery of any popular promises is also resigned, at best. Locals only need look just around the corner, to the Bacton Low Rise Estate, which was demolished under similar glossy re-gen promises, only to sit in limbo as an empty site for years, before redrawn plans for massive towers were recently unveiled to general howls.

Yes, there’s a housing crisis, so new homes are supposedly ‘a good thing’, but Young is damning towards the response that those who study and oppose the details of such impactful schemes receive, during what are often seen as consultations steeped in foregone conclusions.

“It hardly matters that responses are few,” he says. “What matters is the capacity of a discerning State power – a local authority, hospital, school or whatever – having the gumption to parse what they get from the public and distill something useful. The astonishing defensiveness evinced in the stock response to negative feedback – ‘ah the usual awkward squad’ – shows total confusion. The squad, awkward or not, is saying something. If it is antagonistic to what you're planning, it is not the part of the State to feel ‘got at’ or misunderstood. Officers, whether elected or not, who think along those lines have completely misunderstood their role.”

The plodding pace, the inevitable budgetary compromises, the lack of human-level scale and inclusive community storytelling - these things are not unique to Camden, but they are very much part of today’s damaging Broken Britain narrative.

Be it Euston’s sprawling HS2 mess and the inconceivable bill for making - and now fixing - it, or the renewed threats to beloved local park cafes (see Food & Drink below), the pervading sense of powerlessness to stop things that are almost universally disliked from happening is dangerous.

Loss of trust in public and private institutions drives people towards the simple promises of populists. It is highly unlikely that their sweeping easy solutions are going to make things better, but in the era of appealing to ‘the feels’, a touch of racist scapegoating is often enough to seal the deal.

Witness the Shadow Home Secretary and former councilor of the very Gospel Oak ward mired in some of these development controversies, Chris Philip, posting his grim TikTok doorstepping videos, trying to catch out ‘illegal migrants’ and asylum seekers for working.

In the grand scheme of human existence, we’re all living the most privileged of lives in Britain today, no matter how ‘broken’ things might feel. That’s not to say we shouldn’t demand better, but is something to remind ourselves of if we’re falling into the trap of doom-mongering over incompetence and anti-human decision-making by those we need to trust will make things better.

If emotions really are the main currency we’re now working with, it’s time for the great British propensity to moan and harrumph being galvanised into more pro-community action.

Can you feel it?

FOOD & DRINK

Cheese is coming right at ya

Camden Town’s long-standing The Cheese Bar is in the process of being transformed by its owners into the second branch of their Pick & Cheese conveyor belt concept, which has proved a hit down the road at Kerb’s Seven Dials Market.
Reopening on Thurs 24th Jul, the North Yard restaurant will have 25 different cheeses and charcuterie plates from suppliers across the UK moving temptingly before your eyes, with a bottomless all-you-can-eat cheese bonanza every Wednesday in July and August for just £20. That’s one you’ll definitely need to book ahead for.

🍨 Change is afoot at the UK’s No.1 ice cream parlor in Kentish Town Rd, as Caliendo’s has announced it will be closing in September after the summer rush. It’s actually good news for the popular duo, who are expanding the business out in Bucks, and all is not lost for Camden locals either. Neighbouring food hall (and Ottolenghi’s favourite) Phoenicia will be opening a scooping cabinet, serving Caliendo’s Gelato once the parlor shuts up shop.

🍺 Fleet Road’s handsome sweeping corner boozer The Stag is also facing an uncertain future as the current owners (for 17 years) will serve their final pint on Sun 24th Aug. Expect a summer of parties in the suntrap garden and inside to make the end of a glorious era.

☕ The cafes on Hampstead Heath, at the Lido, in Highgate Wood and beyond are loved for being independent, family-run and longstanding. Back in 2016, the threat of nondescript sandwich and cake chain, Benugo, muscling in on the 33-year family history of Parliament Hill Cafe rightly triggered thousands of signatures on a petition. The City of London Corporation (which own’s all these green spaces) duly backed down. But the petition sprang back to life again yesterday, 9 years on, after news broke that - once more - the Corp is looking to put their cafes out to tender. This is yet another spreadsheet-based decision that will be universally unpopular, so you know what to do to help the latest lot of pencil-pushers see the light.

FESTIVALS & MUSIC

All manner of London takeovers

🎶 Camden Market’s ambitious summer of free live gigs and DJs continues, with the opening night of local legend Jazzie B’s Back2Life Cafe down at Hawley Wharf after work tonight. He’s got The Specials’ Jerry Dammers on deck duties for week 1, with more big names to follow every Friday.

🎙️ It’s usually long sold-out, but there are actually a few last minute tickets available for the final three nights of this year’s Somerset House Summer Series, with Aussie folk-rockers The Paper Kites tonight, Fri 18th Jul, London R&B trio FLO (pictured) tomorrow Sat 18th, and a special Sunday evening finale with Peckham hop hop head Giggs being joined by P Money and Tiny Boost.

🪴 The Story Garden celebrates its 6th and final birthday on the Ossulston Street site behind the British Library this Tues 22nd Jul with a bonanza including delicious treats and fun activities, live music, gardening, zine-making, a clothing swap, plant sale and more. Soon the Global Generation crew will be moving on to a permanent home at the Triangle Site up on York Way, which is the start of an exciting new era.

🚫 Hopefully the organisers of London’s latest free viral pop-up gig last night, showcasing legendary house music DJ and producer MK, aren’t nursing too many headaches this morning, after the event proved to be a particularly wild success. It roadblocked under the railway arches and residential streets with thousands of lively ravers, which included Camden’s big Sainsbury’s having to shut down due to the mayhem. The current pop-up street music scene is exciting and dynamic, but too many out-of-control crowds and the freebie fun is sure to be curtailed. Anyway, here’s what it looked like down the front (not my footage!)

…and some of your comments

“Also hate “left wing” and “right wing”

“It feels like astrology for people who'd think themselves too smart for astrology”

“Although I agree these just become personas, or subgroups to “other” each other (take Forbes accusing Gen Z of “salary dysmorphia”) there is something very real happening - a gender divergence between men and women. Gen Z men are 30% further right than women - affecting our relationships, how we vote and the very social fabric of connection.”

“These labels come from marketing meetings are seem only to serve the purpose of selling us stuff we probably don’t need or boxing us into groupings that clearly can’t apply to everyone in the cohort so I avoid ever using them - I have no idea when each generation supposedly starts or ends and have no interest in finding out!”

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