Academy Of Ideas

Listen to the opening remarks from the Battle of Ideas launch event at the Barbican in London London has, by most accounts, emerged as one of the premier cities of the twenty-first century: firmly established as a global hub for finance, technology and culture. Yet there have been growing anxieties about the effect rising inequality levels are having on the city and its inhabitants. Soaring private rental prices and strain on social housing have fuelled fears about gentrification driving out long-term residents as unfashionable neighbourhoods become regenerated. Such fears have also begun to spread among the relatively affluent, with even the New York Times‘s departing London correspondent bemoaning the distorting effects of foreign investment into the capital’s ‘crazyexpensive’ property market. Stories abound of young creatives being priced out to the extent that they find commuting from Spain or Berlin a more affordable option. More generally, there is a growing conviction that London’s develop