29 OCTOBER 1994, Page 25

For my part I find the city incomparably more civilised

than it was in Porter's rose- tinted Sixties. The buildings have been q;:s 41,0 62,4 \I \\ `Well, there it is in a nutshell.' cleaned. New architecture is more sensitive to context. Stations have white marble floors. Pubs have eatable food and drink- able beer. There is mere choice of restau- rants. There are more plays, films, galleries, museums. Innumerable corners of London that were derelict in the Sixties have been brought to life: Covent Garden, Shad Thames, Columbia Market, Portobello, Camden Lock, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe. Historians can take to their ivory towers: young people know where to feel the true pulse of a city such as London.