London impressions

Every city has its icons. Some of the urban icons are universally known, like the Eifel Tower, some are mainly known in the locality. Urban icons can also be superseded by new iconic structures; only think of the Urasmus Bridge in Rotterdam that replaced the nearby Euromast tower as the cities most iconic structure.

London is a metropolis consisting of several component cities, each with its own landmarks and urban icons. The Shard now graces the skyline of the metropolis. It is not part of the skyscrapers in the City, nor of those in Docklands, but is placed south of the river Thames near that old icon Tower Bridge. The 2012 Olympics not only gave some iconic sport venues but also gave us the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, a contemporary pedestrianised completely commercial area (that will surely become the new heart of Stratford). Another iconic emblem of London is the London Eye, a giant Ferris Wheel opposite the Houses of Parliament (another old urban icon). This millennium project quickly became to London what the Eifel Tower is to Paris; an attractive vantage point to survey the urban landscape below.