Is there room for workshops and small businesses?
One of the changes in recent decades has been that small workshops in towns and cities are being closed and converted to housing. Where are the electricians, plumbers, carpenters, builders and handymen, furniture makers and restorers ... or even small offices and computer shops? They are now mostly expensive and a few miles away. It's generally hard to start a small business because premises are hard to get, business rates are high, and there are swathes of regulations.
Regulations and planning, among other factors, have forced a change towards business on the trading estate, shopping in the shopping centres, and people in dormitory zones when they are not working or shopping..
To my way of thinking this move towards cold efficiency is sterile, and loses much of the vitality that is is seen in more integrated environments.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
