Looking into the future

An alternative twist to my now and then pictures of Luton. We look back on these pictures of our town as it was with an air of nostalgia. I wonder if the town planners would have done anything different if they could have had the foresight to see what they were creating? It is of course a pointless question because you can't change what has already happened, but when you look at the old buildings that were knocked to the ground to create the Arndale Centre, a soulless retail space that sucked the life and community out of the town you'd like to think they would.

In my additional picture for today, I have included 3 iconic buildings that were destroyed in my lifetime:

~ The Carnegie library - pulled down in 1962 and replaced with a concrete and glass monstrosity 
~ Plait Halls/Indoor Market - pulled down in the early 1970s to make way for the Arndale Centre
~ The Corn Exchange - pulled down in 1951. OK, not quite in my lifetime in this case but it is now just an open pedestrian area where no one up to any good hangs around for too long

If you look at the buildings in today's blip, you will see that they are mostly empty and unused today. Something I see in many towns sadly.

If I compare this to the 2 towns that I know best, Hitchin just 8 milkes away and Darlington, 218 miles away, the contrast is remarkable. Both have kept their iconic bulidings and allowed sympathetic modernization. Darlington's equivelant of the Arndale Centre nestles discreetly amongst the original buildings and their iconic buildings are preserved and continue to serve a purpose. Hitchin is in many ways like stepping back in time, with timbered building dating back several hundred years and sometimes leaning rather precariously housing little independent shops. 

Luton's town planners have a great deal to answer for.