After far too many years living in Coventry, I’ve become slightly fascinated by its modern history. Given how grim the place feels and how disparagingly its regarded in popular culture, it was jarring to discover that the city had once been seen as the ‘Phoenix rising from the ashes’: a great urban hope of the post world war 2 settlement. It represented a form of urbanism that now seems jarringly anachronistic, particularly given its presupposition of an industrial base which is now entirely absent, however I think it’s possible to read an awful lot about the post war UK through the changing evaluation of the city’s landscape. The medieval parts of the city that were once seen as unfitting and unsuitable contexts demanding modernisation are now seen as the city’s residual ‘nice bits’ and the rebuild urban centre into which so much hope was invested is now seen as emblematic of everything that is wrong with the place. Frankly, I find the place depressing and I’m excited to finally be in a position where I’m on the verge of leaving. However I find my own reaction to the city something worthy of scrutiny. There’s a great deal of sociologist interest that can be said about the Ghost Town of Coventry:
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Mark Carrigan 