Why Our Cities Are So Expensive

We won't build our way out of the housing crisis like this.

Special thanks to the Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) team, Neil Pinder, Professor Paul Watt and Councillor Aydin Dikerdem.

Narrator - Fred Mills
Producer - Jaden Urbi
Camera, Video Editing and Graphics - Jim Casey
Motion Graphics - Vince North
Executive Producers - Fred Mills and James Durkin
Production Management - Victoria Gunn
Associate Producers - Adam Savage, Tim Gibson, Ian Parkin and Christine Beldon

Listen to The World's Best Construction Podcast by The B1M

#construction #architecture #cities

Ripping and/or editing this video is illegal and will result in legal action.

© 2022 The B1M Limited

[bigoldstinkycrab]

This channel is on another level now. Keeps getting better, so impressive. Thanks!

[mynameisjoejeans]

I'm absolutely loving this new direction for The B1M. There is a wealth of construction content out there, but channels with such a high profile daring to discuss inherently political, and therefore risky, subject matters in-depth is very rare. Thank you for going deeper into the social issues involved in construction and not just marvelling at the spectacle of the site itself. Excellent video detailing both the techniques and the wider implications of a build.

[mpaulm]

The fact that cities like Vancouver had to put a law in to stop foreigners from buying homes and not living in them speaks volumes as to why the prices are skyrocketing.

[Nippleless_Cage]

As a longtime subscriber, I like The B1M's recent move away from faceless corporate cheerleading to thoughtful and personal coverage of the human and societal character of megaprojects. It jives nicely with your personal appearances in videos. Keep this kind of content coming! <3

[briancastro]

I LOVE that this channel does not just stop at "Look at how pretty and cool this new development is!". I love the idea of preserving and re imagining Battersea... but the reality is more complicated an it's refreshing to see a construction-focused channel address it.

[bp]

I used to work for councils around London carrying out electrical testing and now work in Construction Consultancy for a well known company in management, therefore I have been both sides of the fence. We have worked in all the projects you mentioned in this video and it’s eye opening when you hear the statistics of how many of these luxury homes will actually be occupied. I’m working on a project where the cheapest property is £5m and they reckon the overall occupancy will sit at 8% full. This was a great mini documentary.

[Sellsor]

This is the type of videos I like to see. Not just a shiny new building and repeating the marketing script from the company building it. Looking more at the problems we are facing in society

[superjuddy]

I remember watching this channel 4-5 years ago, and being super interested in the content. Now as I (and the channel!) have aged, I RESPECT the content. You guys have gotten so, sooo good at not only covering construction content but reporting on it, and allowing for a TRUE nuanced view. I mean seriously, maybe it's different in London (i doubt it!) but where I live (southern USA) news, and ALL reporting is polarizing, not informative and directly contrasting multiple viewpoints, you are doing the BEST i've seen, and to top it all off, youre also a REAL expert in the industry you Construction, and England in general is so blessed to have you working the way you do! Praying for your success, God bless.

[StealthyDrake]

My grandad use to work at Battersea powerstatuon as an engineer before he became a nuclear engineer. When I use to go up to London I always made sure I sat on the right side of the train so I could see it. Then they covered it up. That made me abit sad. Then when it was finished we went up there. Me and my grandad both loved it. This ignited my love for architecture.

Thank you

[yashrajsomvanshi]

This channel and such doc style videos are the replacement of "how it's built" kinda content I used to watch on TV as a kid.

[thastayapongsak]

I love that you're doing this. I love skyscrapers, massive infrastructures, and good architecture, but sometimes people act like they are the marketing team for those people. These projects have real impacts and they need to be addressed.

[lesterlam]

Besides the challenge of building more affordable housing, one other thing which you rightly pointed out is the maintenance of them. Singapore inherited the policy of building public housing from the previous British colonial government, but went further by having a whole process of maintenance and rejuvenation to ensure the public estates do not degenerate and remain attractive for people to live in. Our public housing development board (HDB) does not just build homes; it also builds communities. I hope this is something that you could explore since having affordable homes is a major concern in major cities today.

[han-gyul]

Excellent documentary. As a New Yorker, I am grateful that there is someone with a large reach that cares enough about these issues.

[shane-porter]

I cannot begin to imagine just how much work went into building (pun intended, sorry) this video. Its quality is unquestionable. I have an interest in construction, but had I had access to this channel (many years ago, sadly) I’d have possibly pursued a career in construction, so engaging is the content.

Well done to all involved. And a big thank you to you all.

[antoniowu]

When you invest you're buying a day you don't have to work.

[RW]

Long time subscriber and just wanted to express how much I enjoyed this one. Covering the human side of a massive development project was a wonderful focus for a video on this megaproject. Watched this earlier today, but I came back to write this because I unexpectedly shed a tear just now thinking about the guy saying they used to play football games in the neighborhood "15 a side". It was in one sense just off the cuff banter in the context of the video, but it conveyed such a sence of community and shared humanity that is really at the core of what is being emptied when we talk about our cities being hallowed out. It's a dimension that "the market" is incapable of accounting for, it takes a human heart to appreciate.

Job well done lads,
Cheers to making our cities OURS, to everyone within them, and not diminishing them to assets in a financial portfolio

[johnmundge]

As a Londoner, this video was incredibly moving, as people like me who grew up in here cannot afford to even buy a property here, despite being a working professional doing GIS in construction funnily enough. Sad that people as passionate about the city as me could never afford to live here comfortably, even on a relatively good salary!

[jalabi]

I found it interesting that the Battersea developer woman couldn't look at you directly when she was giving her spiel about how "affordable" their housing is. Even she knows she's taking the mick!

Great job with this piece, Fred and crew! More of this kind of nuanced content please!

[soerenbo]

Love the new direction B1M is showing in the last few months. In the past it has been a little bit too much "hype" and "everything is amazing/bigger is better", but now it shows a lot more well researched journalism, with shining light on more than one side of developments. Questioning if new and bigger is always better, and if there are generally better ways is the way to go for the building industry of the future. YouTube channels in this branche often have a tendency to be all about biggest, most expensive and so, without questioning the long term effects of the developments they are showing. With B1M starting to show more of the negative side effects and questioning the necessity of buildings and projects like this they are really adding a lot of value to the information shown.

[darkflighter]

I use your videos for my GCSE and A-Level Geography lessons. They are incredibly well-researched and thorough, that they legitimately form a great resource for pupils to learn about a range of geographical topics, such as your Eko Atlantic video examining coastal reclamation and luxury urban development in Lagos.