"A city of shadows"?

We've been spending a bit of time down by the Bay/Barrage recently, and so I was alarmed to read about the proposals for the area around and behind the Norwegian church. As David James has highlighted, the digital images showing the planned Dolffin Quay development seem to suggest that public space currently regularly enjoyed by thousands like us will be sacrificed to make way for private places accessible only to those with deep pockets.

Not only does such a development seem unnecessary (the Bay area is already full of vacant "executive" flats), but - as James points out - it is only feasible because "of the huge sums of public money that have been poured into building bridges and other infrastructure to open up the former docklands for development - not to forget the many millions that paid for the barrage itself".

Sadly, I don't hold out that much hope that the public will be given priority over developer interests (and cash) in such cases any time soon.