Oliver Wainwright suggests how the public sector could build a much better Britain by adopting the sort of rules used in Flanders to create beautiful buildings (The Flanders phenomenon: how Belgian buildings went from joke to genius, 28 April). However, a much deeper reason why northern Belgium has outpaced the UK in economic as well as environmental terms is that local and regional authorities have the power to create their own futures without relying on central government. To achieve a similar renaissance in the UK, we need to learn from new town development corporations. Local authorities could create renewed towns if they had the powers to assemble land and raise funds for projects that restore hope.
Dr Nicholas Falk
Executive director, the Urbed Trust
• Oliver Wainwright’s article says that Belgium was once derided as “the ugliest country in the world”. This would have puzzled the publishers of Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide. I have a 1913 edition that says: “Belgium offers great attractions of noble medieval architecture … the town halls and other secular buildings are the finest of their kind in Europe.” And the bars aren’t bad either.
Richard Tippett
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
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