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Supercities
Fridays from 26 September 2003, 8pm
Leading UK-based international architect Will Alsop outlines his vision of the city of the future. In contrast to conurbations of the past which grew out in a sprawling mass from the centre, these new cities are linear and relatively narrow, stretching out along communication routes, like motorways. In this way, he says, disparate town communities could regain their identity as part of a super grouping, fusing their architectural legacy with new landmark buildings such as Alsop's own Fourth Grace in Liverpool. Deploring the current trend for gated developments that close off the past to all but the wealthy, he sees a far more open scheme, where everyone can enjoy every city and its spaces. In the first programme he drives the Coast to Coast city route, a 130-mile long, 20-mile wide strip of the M62 from Liverpool to Hull. For its 15.4 million residents, high-tech, high-rise living would mean that no-one was far from the outskirts of the city or from its central line. The second programme takes Alsop on what he calls the Diagonal, from Birmingham in the centre of England to London and Southend on the Essex coast. The third city, Waves, loops along the south coast from Hastings to Poole in Dorset.
You can read more about how structures are shaped by society and about the movers and shakers in the world of architecture. You can also put your new-found knowledge to the test in the supercity game.
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