The third in the London Society’s series of documentary podcasts, London Explained, has just been released. Researched, scripted and presented by me, and produced by top radio producer Andrew McGibbon, it tells the story of the Marble Arch, a famous and revered London monument that stands at a crossroads in more ways than one.
For decades, the splendour of the Arch itself and the environment of its surrounding area have been blighted by too much heavy road traffic flowing round it and by a broader failure to make the most its potential as a location and a place of historic importance.
But ambitions plans have been drawn up to transform the fortunes of the Arch by imaginative transformations of the public realm and improving pedestrian access between it and Hyde Park, to which it once formed an elegant entrance.
The podcast includes interviews with key figures behind the proposals, including Simon Loomes of the Portman Estate and Lucy Musgrave and Tess McCann of architecture practice Publica, and explores them in the context of the Marble Arch area’s past, present and possible future at the heart of an evolving, post-pandemic central London.
Listen to the podcast HERE.
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