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(单词翻译)
Inner-city gentrification
So long, Soho
London's seediest district hints at some of the ways the capital is changing
IN 1847 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels earnestly debated the failings of capitalism1 in rooms above a pub at 20 Great Windmill Street, in Soho. Some 170 years later, patrons of Be at One, the chain which has taken over the venue2, have somewhat different problems to worry about. After making their way past a bouncer, and through throngs3 of people to a bar dimly lit by brown lights, drinkers navigate4 a cocktail5 menu around 20 pages long, with eye-watering prices. “I don't like paying 8.50 for a drink,” admits Josh Rogers, an American tourist. “But I'm happy to pay more if the area is vibrant6 and fun,” he adds, slightly despondently7.
Soho, an area of about half a square kilometre in the West End, has long been an anomaly in central London. At the turn of the 20th century it was full of French, German, Polish and Italian immigrants; just before the first world war one writer remarked that “when the respectable Londoner wants to feel devilish he goes to Soho”. Full of pretty Georgian houses and dark side streets, it resisted development in the 1970s, and it remains8 a red-light district: around 40 flats are still used for prostitution. Film and television companies cluster above bars and restaurants.
But the area has become far less gritty. Fewer prostitutes operate there; most shops selling pornography have closed down. At the end of November Madame Jojo's, a burlesque9 bar, had its licence revoked10, after a fight took place outside it, and the bar's security team were captured on CCTV wielding11 baseball bats. The club had already been approved for redevelopment by the Soho Estates, one of two large landowners in the area, but the incident speeded up its closure. Denmark Street, known as Tin Pan Alley12 because of the number of music shops along it, is due to be turned into a street of flats and pop-up shops. A former police station which was empty for 13 years is currently being turned into an apartment block.
In part these changes reflect how Britain itself has become more cosmopolitan13. In the 1960s Soho was full of food markets selling rarities such as avocados and globe artichokes, recalls Matthew Bennett, who has lived there for five decades. Now you can get such goods “at a Waitrose in Penzance,” he sniffs14. Many quirky shops were on long-term leases which have since expired, while in some parts of the West End getting a licence to open a late-night bar has become harder. The internet has chipped away at the sex industry. In 2007 the local council cracked down on “clip joints”—where men are fooled into paying for titillation15 that never happens.
An increased demand for residential16 properties in central London has speeded up these changes. Since 2003 the West End has lost around 180,000 square metres of office floorspace as developers turn offices into flats. Increasing numbers of rich families with younger children live in the city centre, an area that many would have shunned17 two decades ago. Between 2003 and 2013 the number of children under the age of 16 in Westminster, the authority which encompasses18 Soho, increased by 30%, nearly double the rate for that age group across London. As a result, landowners have become more active in sprucing up the area: “Our motto is: edgy19 but not seedy,” says Steve Norris, the chairman of Soho Estates and a former Conservative MP. Crossrail, a new train line with a station north of Soho at Tottenham Court Road, will also bring a swathe of shiny new shops and offices.
This irks many, however. “Soho is the last ramshackle area of the old soot-stained, post-war London,” says Rupert Everett, an actor who has campaigned for the rights of sex workers. “Once that turns into a cascade20 of glass, then London is gone,” he sighs. After the closure of Madame Jojo's a campaign group, Save Soho, was set up; around 9,000 people have signed a petition lambasting the change of “once proud centres of subculture” into “identikit high-end boutiques”. Pete Townshend, a musician, has argued that Denmark Street should be made into a “heritage zone”.
This poses a dilemma21 for developers. They want to spruce up the area while retaining the vague air of bohemianism that has attracted many to it. Parts of Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, which was the centre of the hippie-era “summer of love”, have become tourist attractions, partly because of NIMBY residents. Westminster City Council is trying to limit the number of office-to-residential conversions22. Others are pushing for a “creative-industry policy” for the area, in which film companies and the like have a say about developments. Such schemes may help prevent Soho changing too swiftly. But in many cases it may be too late.
1 capitalism | |
n.资本主义 | |
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2 venue | |
n.犯罪地点,审判地,管辖地,发生地点,集合地点 | |
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3 throngs | |
n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群,挤满( throng的第三人称单数 ) | |
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4 navigate | |
v.航行,飞行;导航,领航 | |
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5 cocktail | |
n.鸡尾酒;餐前开胃小吃;混合物 | |
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6 vibrant | |
adj.震颤的,响亮的,充满活力的,精力充沛的,(色彩)鲜明的 | |
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7 despondently | |
adv.沮丧地,意志消沉地 | |
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8 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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9 burlesque | |
v.嘲弄,戏仿;n.嘲弄,取笑,滑稽模仿 | |
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10 revoked | |
adj.[法]取消的v.撤销,取消,废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11 wielding | |
手持着使用(武器、工具等)( wield的现在分词 ); 具有; 运用(权力); 施加(影响) | |
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12 alley | |
n.小巷,胡同;小径,小路 | |
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13 cosmopolitan | |
adj.世界性的,全世界的,四海为家的,全球的 | |
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14 sniffs | |
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的第三人称单数 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说 | |
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15 titillation | |
n.搔痒,愉快;搔痒感 | |
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16 residential | |
adj.提供住宿的;居住的;住宅的 | |
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17 shunned | |
v.避开,回避,避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18 encompasses | |
v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 );包围;包含;包括 | |
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19 edgy | |
adj.不安的;易怒的 | |
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20 cascade | |
n.小瀑布,喷流;层叠;vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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21 dilemma | |
n.困境,进退两难的局面 | |
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22 conversions | |
变换( conversion的名词复数 ); (宗教、信仰等)彻底改变; (尤指为居住而)改建的房屋; 橄榄球(触地得分后再把球射中球门的)附加得分 | |
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