Regents Park via here.
With all the wonderful weather we have had over the last fortnight London has escaped into its parks. We too were gadding about on the sunny fields of Regent's Park (emptily pictured above). One of the things that struck me was when our friend arrived and tried to describe his whereabouts by the people and objects that surrounded him, was that he could be anywhere within the park. I thought by his description that I should be able to see him, and yet I could not. This it seems to me is one of the interesting features of London parks: a ubiquity of activity, everyone acts in a very similar manner across the park. Here a pair might be tossing a frisbee back and forth, there a few lads will be kicking a football around. Where are the Aussie rules football, naked sunbathers and the impromptu performance of a Christopher Marlowe play? There seems to be an intensely narrow band of activity in which people recreate in their public parks.
Now there is an actual statute which governs behaviour in the Royal Parks, which is the Parks Regulation Act, but I'm not sure that this is what ensures this homogeneity of activities. There seems to be an attitude that within parks that there is a certain type of behaviour that is appropriate, and that these unspoken rules are followed unquestioningly.
One wonders if it is the parks themselves, the very landscapes, the false nature, that implies that we are not really as free as we are in the wilderness. If so, what exactly is it: the vast expanses of grass? Isn't it fascinating that we can acheive an urban landscape that is so adept at controlling behaviour. Perhaps landscape designers should aid the design of schools or prisons even.
