Giscard's achievement
Sir: Maybe President Giscard d'Estaing is coarse and snobbish, maybe he accepts gifts (Sam White, 7 February). But, paradoxically, Giscard's real achievement can be seen in the Queen's Gallery in London, which shows a Canaletto view of the Thames towards the City. There London is shown as a beautiful 18th-century city completely unrecognisable in the London of today, apart from the glimpse of St Paul's which is all that our wonderful planners have left us. By contrast, the Paris of today is clearly the same place in general appearance as it was in the 18th century, but greatly improved in other ways, and Giscard can claim much of the credit for this.
Twenty years ago our appalling public authorities laid down the strategy which destroyed London more than ever Hitler's bombs could: destroy public transport, smash through motorways and their concomitant skyscrapers. So did the French, and we saw the Montparnasse tower and the Right Bank motorway (bad enough but very modest compared to the Westway, Archway etc). But the French, and particularly Giscard, drew back in time, stopped the motorways and skyscrapers, and improved public transport in a way which makes London like the stone age in comparison.
It's not just that public transport stops the motorways and enables large parts of the city to have little or no motor traffic, but also the fact that you can get about in a third of the time at a third of the cost that encourages people to live and work in Paris, while London is dying by strangulation of movement. The policy identified with Giscard has not only made a beautiful city more beautiful and a better place to live in, but has given it prosperity while London is being strangled.
George Stern 6 Eton Court, Shepherds Hill, London N6
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