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Elephant and Castle, essentially, is how I imagine future slum cities will look: commercialisation built literally upon the squalid and the pissed-in underpasses, tower blocks on shaky foundations nestled among lethal roundabouts and greying university buildings. And somewhere, in there, before the cranes come and assemble business cathedrals made of shiny chrome, if you squint – past the estate agents, past the pricks, past the pop-up markets parachuted in, a mockery of real markets, a caricature of a market to make the area seem more authentic – if you squint, past them, really tighten your eyes up, you might see some bleak little spaces where humans can live.
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What shall we do? Shall we go off and start our own city, where the rich are forbidden, and where landlords are ceremonially and publicly killed, and everyone is actually allowed rooms slightly larger than their beds to live in, and everything is alright? Or will that get fucked, too? Are we, as a human race, doomed to ruin every space we ever live in? Do we fundamentally deserve shitty rooms in Elephant and Castle no larger than a bed?No, we still don't. Humans are shit but we still don't. DC Estates & Lettings Ltd in Leyton, you are bad. Anyone who ever walked into this room and thought anything other than, 'This is just a cupboard with delusions of grandeur,' you are bad. Elephant and Castle, you are bad. London in 2015, you are bad. Burn the city down and start again. Burn the city down but let me know if you see anywhere better to rent before you do.(h/t reddit user skeletonclock)@joelgolbyMore shitty London rental opportunities:Sleep on a Single Bed in Someone's Kitchen!The Shittiest Kitchen in London!Notting Hill's Biggest Shithole!Trending on NOISEY: A Man Has Been Packed Into a Tent Bag And Is Stuck At T in the Park