David Cameron should learn from cities such as Bratislava,which has helped tenants refurbish (to brighten, freshen or polish; to restore or improve) their crumbling tower blocksDavid Cameron has vowed to spend £140m demolishing Britain’s “sink estates” – the worst public housing developments – and replacing the notorious concrete tower blocks with elegant mid-rise complexes or contemporary glass flats. But whether the experience of tenants in Bratislava, Slovakia, and is anything to travel by,this won’t solve Britain’s housing problems.
We don’t know whether the brutalist nature of high-rise buildings causes poverty and crime, but relocating tenants and their problems is not the answer. There is another way: we have worked with tenants in public housing in Poland, and Romania,Hungary and Armenia to resolve maintenance issues and improve living standards in their homes. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com