![]() ![]() ![]() The country is barely thirty years old in its current iteration, its earlier 20th century defined by acts of non-heroism and a glorious imperial past that isn’t entirely its own. In many ways, though, the Czech Republic itself is Europe’s North Greenwich. This locale is unusual against the otherwise fairy-tale architecture of the capital city, which is soaked in history and tradition. I spent July in Prague as a writer-in-residence at an arts centre on the industrial outskirts of the city that looks like the Peninsula did before its gentrification. It worked: North Greenwich today is home to a familiar, if generic blend of galleries and pop-up design markets that support a thriving chain restaurant and buy-to-let property scene. ![]() The developers would employ an artist (the gentrifier’s best friend) to fabricate them, and punters wouldn’t know the difference. “So let’s invent some!” It didn’t matter that North Greenwich, or the “Peninsula” as it is now branded, had neither character nor history. “Neighbourhoods need traditions,” it proclaimed. Before they broke ground on even a fraction of the promised homes, restaurants and artist studios, a billboard betrayed the planners’ idea of the place. A few years ago, a Chinese property development firm decided to turn North Greenwich, the site of the Millennium Dome and a former industrial wasteland, into a thriving residential and entertainment district. ![]()
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