We've already had Adam Bienkov speaking up for Balham as the true trail-blazer of X-crossings in London. Now the debate moves from origins to ideology. Here's Charles Nevin at Comment is Free:
I can appreciate the competitive tension as the crowds wait, poised to traverse in differing directions with maximum thrust and dispatch in the 30 seconds allowed, slightly crouched, rocking gently on the balls of the feet. In North America, where it was introduced as long ago as the 1940s, it's known as the pedestrian scramble, a typically unabashed title for an installation unbeatable in symbolising the individual anti-hindmost energy of the American Dream, as well as the wider theme of Life in the City. You will not be surprised to learn it's also big in Japan, home of the more interesting game shows. But do we really want this here?
Charles thinks not. He recommends a pedestrian roundabout instead. More British, he feels. I'm chewing on that one. Read the whole thing.
