365 RED: Abandoned London

Our city is a very changing place. As fortunes ebb and wane with the tide of the international oil markets, things are either excellent and vibrant, or struggling or abandoned.

Downtown, in what was the old bus barns, is a shopping centre cum social space. When it was imagined back in the late 80s, the developers envisioned a version of Vancouver's Granville Market. For whatever reason, those smart people didn't factor in the fact nobody lived downtown, or immense lack of downtown parking or the fact parking in this city is more expensive than nearly anywhere else in the world, including New York City.

So there was established a grand and gorgeous market in the centre of downtown, where, at the time, there were almost residents - save those in the VERY posh high-rise adjacent - populated by people who were wealthy enough to have a cook, or who ate  in high-end restaurants, rather than purchasing fresh produce and meat whilst within shoulder-rubbing distance of the proletariat....

Later, this ever-shifting building housed the  IMAX theatre, and a quite-excellent art gallery, and then a group of businesses and a cinema - but again, not enough people to keep those things running, given the vast majority of people who worked downtown couldn't wait to get out of there at the end of the day.

The place is currently on the demolition list. The few remaining businesses limp along, surviving only thanks to quite low rents for the area, as the landlord would rather have some income than empty spaces.

The poster there hangs outside a British shop - closed, of course - as a sad reminder of an idea that has entirely lost its way.