Is Britain becoming Los Angeles?

Recently the architect RichardRogers attacked the British government’s planning reforms and warned thatBritain could 'very easily' become to resemble the ghettoes of Los Angeles with'rust belts and towns joining each other'. Cities such as Birmingham and MiltonKeynes, Bristol and Bath would also begin to merge under the current prospectof the policies and foster an enormous sprawl. Rogers argues that 'cities arethe engines of the economy, the heart of our culture and places of innovation.If the framework is not greatly improved it will lead to the breakdown andfragmentation of cities and neighbourhoods as well as the erosion of thecountryside.' Until now the fears over the plans had been limited to thecountryside. Rogers is the first person to voice concern about the effect uponmajor cities, as the Mail online article tells. Instead of uncontrolledplanning, Rogers pleads for the re-development of derelict areas and buildingsin the inner cities.  I would doubtthat Lord Rogers also had in mind the benefit cuts that result in an exodus ofinner-city working class people to the city’s fringes, as discussed in myrecent post. Maybe I do himinjustice, but I would have reasonsto believe that he is not (always) thinking of re-developments that benefitthe socially and economically disadvantaged.