Ash wrote:It's an interesting counter-factual. Judging by the movie Tiger Bay, the housing in Loudoun Square was sub-divided in the post-war period and, given that it wasn't until the 1980s that the CBDC came along, the housing would probably have deteriorated further if it had been left standing. As you suggest, we'll never know!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and no doubt city planners in the 1960s, following the fashions of their times, thought they were doing the right thing. No doubt either that there'll be people in 50 years time cursing some of the decisions being made today.
Notting Hill springs to mind. It was also a fairly run down and mostly subdivided at that time. Look at it now.
I think that, had Loudon Square been saved, it would likely have been gentrified. The architecture may have been lost, but the fact that council decided to rebuild the housing in-situ rather than decant the residents to a new estate in the outer districts/suburbs may have preserved the community. There is something to be learnt from this. It wasn't the case as recently as the 70s when the streets of lower Splott were razed to make way for... an industrial estate.