All articles by barbara speed
barbara speed
Britain's transport police want you to text them if you're harassed on the tube
Are you a Londoner? If so, there’s a one in 10 chance you’ve experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on the city’s…
Local authorities have been creating their own rules for public spaces, and some of them seem a little extreme
Did you know that you’re not allowed to beg on a certain road in Poole? And in Grimsby, police can…
A developer demolished a pub in Kilburn without council permission
What to do when you don’t get planning permission? This was the quandary faced by CLTX, a development company which…
Here's why we can't actually fill the Tower of London's moat with water again
As we were tootling arond the internet this morning, we came across an interesting London infrastructure suggestion from a reddit…
How can we build skyscrapers without throwing cities into shadow?
There are around 250 tall towers currently planned for London’s skyline. From afar, they’ll probably look great. But unless they’re…
Delhi is using technology and an all-female police force to make public transport safer for women
Last week saw the release of India’s Daughter, a revealing (and, frankly, horrifying) documentary about the 2012 gang rape and…
Cities' productivity is proportional to their size – unless they're British
It’s always satisfying when a simple theory comes along which seems to make sense of messy and complicated things. We…
Europe’s post-crash ghost towns
Before 2008, Dublin was a boom town. Property prices were high; the economy was thriving; people were spending. Keen to…
China strictly controls urbanisation and limits migrant workers' rights – but all that could be changing
If you live in China, and you fancy moving from the Chinese equivalent of rural Norfolk to the Chinese equivalent…
The campaign against Battersea's "Claphamisation"
We’ve all had the conversation, at one time or another. At a dinner party, or over coffee, person A will…