22.08.2007 BBC
A tale of two cities in London?
Naomi Grimley
This is where the super-rich have come to party: some are the international jet
set, others are wealthy financiers entertaining clients. Crystal made the news
recently when one businessmen spent ￡105,000 ($207,000) in one night. The
club's general manager, Fraser Donaldson, says it is becoming more common for
bills to reach these eye-watering figures. "This is bigger than the 1980s. Our
average table bill has gone up drastically and London seems to be growing in
that sort of way."
By day, many of Crystal's party-goers can be found in their suits and at their
desks inside the glass skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. Many global businesses are
relocating here because of London's relaxed approach to financial regulation. A
favourable tax system is also encouraging more foreign billionaires than ever
before to make the city their home. But is it actually good for London? "Yes,"
says Howard Wheeldon, a city analyst with BGC Partners based in Canary Wharf, "
there's a massive trickle-down effect." He reminds me that Britain's economy
used to be based on manufacturing. "Now the service industries have grown, the
financial centres have grown and that's providing a much greater income stream
for those that work in it. That, in turn, allows greater consumer spending
power."
In the shadow of Canary Wharf's towers, a charity called Toynbee Hall is
holding an open day for under-privileged East End kids. They are decorating a
cake with pictures of nearby buildings. The children here -often from Somali or
Bengali families - are among the poorest in the country. Luke Geoghegan,Toynbee
Hall's director, believes there is not much evidence of the "trickle-down
effect" for them. I ask him if the rich and poor in the area ever mix. He tells
me to go and sit in the designer shopping mall underneath Canary Wharf. "No
matter how long you sit there, you never see anybody from the Bengali community
. And that's interesting because we know from the census that the ward Canary
Wharf is situated in has one of the largest Bengali communities in the UK.These
are two worlds that occupy the same space, but never actually intersect."
The volunteers at Toynbee Hall are increasingly worried that London is becoming
a city of two extremes, with the middle classes being squeezed out. A recent
report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation argued that the proportion of "average
families" in London is declining. What is more, house price forecasts suggest
that by 2012 the average property in London could cost ￡500,000 ($988,000).
Some commentators point the finger of blame at the international super-rich for
buying up the capital's best properties and inflating the prices. But whatever
the cause, the fear is that if the middle classes are pushed further out to the
suburbs there may be serious implications for social cohesion. It leaves the
very rich and the very poor living together in the centre of the capital. Side
by side - yet still in their own very separate worlds.
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