Understanding Milton Keynes (1/2)

Much like The Open University, its home Milton Keynes took a less than conventional approach to existing norms when it was designed.

Very few places in England elicit the type of response that you might get when you mention the words Milton Keynes, like the Royal family the very existence of Milton Keynes is considered contentious and many people have very strong opinions about whether it should exist at all.

For some the idea that a group of town planners could create a purposed built city over the course of a few decades that hasn’t evolved over hundreds of years feels unnatural and even borders on blasphemous.

But in a country where the government is struggling to manage an ever-increasing population could the ideas behind Milton Keynes be more important than ever before.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Milton Keynes The Open University has made the documentary; Understanding Milton Keynes, a film that aims to deconstruct many of the myths that exist about the city and offer a thorough examination of the ideas, history and development of Milton Keynes divided into various sections, each one looking at a distinctively different facet of the city.

The videos explore everything from the sociological ideas behind the development of Milton Keynes, through to its commitment to public art and how organisations like The Parks Trust provide a unique model for maintaining green spaces

Drone Footage supplied by Sky Cam Productions


(Part 1 of 2)

Learn more about MK from The Open University
Understanding MK hub

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[mauimango]

I am an architect who just returned from a visit to Milton Keynes. I enjoyed the green trails along Ouzel Valley Park but found the central urban area sad, alienating and too focused around cars. It reminds me of sprawling American suburbs and their love affair with the automobile. Milton Keynes has great landscape features but needs extensive re-planning of the built environment to make it fit for human habitation.

[aquilarossa]

I was born in NZ but grew up in Milton Keynes. We moved to back NZ in 1985. I ended up with a Kiwi passport instead of British. I love NZ, but still feel like Milton Keynes is where I am from and miss it at times.

[lukewiseman]

This is great stuff. If there is a sort of 'meta-lesson' to be taken from it, it is that: "If there is a really great, bold idea, DO NOT interfere with it". Milton Keynes has not, according to this film and its sequel (part 2), remained true to the original vision. Politics and money got in the way. What would the place have been like without such interference?

[MrAllen-fvcj]

Milton Keynes is also known for a legendary Queen concert that took place at the Bowl in the summer of 1982.

[scottmitchell]

Born in MK in 76, 43 years old and homeless and still can’t get a council house. MK has gone downhill ever since we lost the development corporation

[simongreenidge]

In order to get permission to build new estates the developers should have been forced to follow the original plan and grid road template. Also the newer developments (say within the past 12 years) do not properly recognise that the average MK family owns 2 or 3 cars and the owners will park those car as close to their house's front door as they can.
Try cycling around some of these estates on the weekend and you will find that the place is a tangled mess of cars parked on pavements, blocking 'red ways' etc. Visit the older estates (with 2 decent parking bays close to the owners' front door) and you will find that the situation is much better.

[PilotFlightMars]

I’m actually Australian.
But I’m aware of the location because of the Council videos where staff bullied a photographer and Deborah Carr (?) Lied about processing a complaint and then investigated and cleared herself of misconduct. The video is horrific. As I said, I’m not even from the UK, and the video of the councils conduct on a couple of videos have stuck with me.
There are videos of people filming police there also, the Police are unprofessional and rude, they escalate and are condescending.
The city has a terrible reputation if you search it on YouTube. The people seem lovely, but the council and police seem horrendous.
Do a YouTube search for Council visit videos.
I’d never live there.

[LeeGriggs]

This would have been better with more footage and plans of Milton Keynes instead of an hour of boring old men yacking on and on. Where were the red balloons for example?

[PaulBaird]

It's worth contrasting the planned development of the new town model against the piecemeal development models of house building companies, who don't seem to look outside of the boundaries of the individual housing estate. The number that are built nowadays with no provision for local schools, medical centres and shops, or how that estate interacts with the wider community is almost criminal.

[fabianrares]

No social housing, the council was clear enough, that is not the kind of people they want to attract. They want young, strong, educated people with well-paid jobs and tax payers. It is what they said...

[mkkravist]

Oh, and further to that, there’s no place in MK that you can’t hear the loud continual drone of dual carriageway’s or the A5 & M1. Even the country parks aren’t immune from that noise. Cars & motorbikes racing between roundabouts with no Police is a nightmare, as is poor air quality.

[stevegoodson]

Should be roundabouts, concrete cows, homelesness, drug addiction and gang violence. And semi-derelict council estates built in the 70's, with all available land being sold to private developers to build expensive 'prestige' housing for wealthy commuters, which the poor and homeless won't ever get close to.

[Sarahbryson]

R O U N D A B O U T (i mean i love milton keynes)

[sophiapond]

I came to Milton Keynes due to my Father applied for a clergy post in one of the ecumenical parishes. We as a family came in 1985. never liked the place from then on in. I did not want to come, but I had no choice in the matter. I am in the throws of getting out of Milton Keynes when I get enough finances together to do it. Never will call this dirt bag place home at all, as I prefer countryside on my doorstep instead of using public transportation.

[Luluknights]

I get the same people look very odd at me when I live in Mk

[stevegoodson]

I think in the late 70's with the rise of conservatism and 'no such thing as society' the original plan was seen as an obsolete relic, and since then the plan has changed, with milton keynes becoming a satellite town for wealthy commuters who work in london. The point about city streets is well made, there were hundreds of speed bumps on all the roads within estates, and bus drivers were having to leave work after developing severe back problems from driving over speed bumps all day. It's virtually impossible to live there without a car - the redways seen like a good idea, but all that pretty landscaping and poor lighting provide plenty of cover for rapists and muggers. I doubt that any of the people presenting this video spend much time walking the redways, particularly near the more run-down estates. For example, if you live on Fishermead, right next to the city centre, walking to the city centre shops and back on the redways is a great way to get mugged. Willen Lake is indeed beautiful, and when I had a car I visited often. When I became disabled and could no longer drive it became impossible to get there. The bus service is great in theory, but it's very poorly run and it's common fot buses to run 45 minutes late, or to turn up at the same time as the next scheduled bus. I've been on buses in MK where the driver had to ask the passengers for directions, and they drove so dangerously that all the passengers were visibly (and vocally) terrified. While I was working as a programmer in MK, I had co-workers who relied on the bus service to get to work, and were consistently late through no fault of their own. Perhaps the monorail would have improved things, but as far as the current authorities are concerned, if you don't have your own transport you're not worth worrying about. As far as cycling goes, if you're physically fit and able enough to cycle 10 mile round trips across the city, on the steep hills created by those 'landscaping' mounds, all is well, but if you're disabled or unfit. or you need to carry heavy shopping etc., you'd better have a friend with a car to help out. I should know, having been that friend with a car for many people for many years until I lost the ability to drive.

[crickcrot]

I lived in Milton Keynes it's soulless humans created places to to live by need not artificial places to exist in no soul system housing created by bureaucrats.

[bargainwallart]

Obviously the new town is a mess....shame on all.