Kings cross is one of the central business districts in London that have excellent environment for living and work both. The local development framework that was developed by the Islington council for areas that are close to kings cross. It should be noted that the local development framework was made of various smaller scale plans and was adopted by the council in 2005 (Islington, 2005).
The focus of this presentation is to highlight the major differences in street view that can be identified between kings cross and its neighboring boroughs, namely islington. A large section of the boundaries between kings cross and islington is the new York way which separates the two areas.
The figure below shows the comparison between the kings cross on the left and islington on the right. The google map shows that clear differences can be found between the green areas of the two neighboring districts. Judging by the map view, apparently kings cross has much less green area compared to its neighboring islington district. Islington apparel has a much more standardized standardized and well structured square block design in the difference blocks of the area, while kings cross is much more “casually” designed and planned with less so standardized structured architectures and buildings.

There are many more trees on the islington side of the York way, compared to the much fewer trees alongside the western side of the York way on king’s cross. This is also clearly shown in the neighborhood framework document named “regenerating king’s cross”. The plan outlined various projects to the east of kings cross regeneration area and central development site (Islington Council, 2014).
The neighboring district of king’s cross has various well structured regions each corresponding to a certain local plan, including the vale royal, bingfield new quarter, bemerton, Thornhill, regents canal north, creative industrial quarter, barnsbury, and ten estates. The area there has a clear planning and allocation of different areas for different purposes. For example, the creative industrial quarter is designed for holding businesses and factories as an centralized industrial zone. To the north side of the region is the vale royal which also is separated by premium housing and real estate properties in the east, and recreational areas with sports facilities in the west part of the region.

At a specific location of the street view along York way, trees are much talker and well planted on the islington side of the way, while there are only smaller trees, if any at all, in the king’s cross side of the way. This indicates much more different focus on green areas development and incluision in the urban planning process.

This difference in green area between the two sides along the York way can be justified by the positioning of king’s cross as a central development site. The king’s cross area is filled with entertainment areas (shopping malls and recreational facilities and architectures), transportation hub (e.g. London trains), and headquarters for businesses.
Such a huge gap is well justified by the urban planning that was adopted in 2005 where various priorities for the king’s cross regeneration area were proposed. For example, one specific priority is to “seek opportunities to provide new healthy facilities where there is a proven need”. the plan did help improve the construction and development plan of certain health related facilities. For example, at the cross section of market rd. and York way at islington side, there are two soccer fields around the islington tennis centre and gym.

However, the planning of health related facilities and architectures is missing in the king’s cross side, where it only offers office areas, transportation hub for northern railways, and recreation areas like the platform theatre. In comparison, there is no qualified healthy facilities at the kings cross side of the York way that separates the two regions.
The figure above also shows the huge difference in architectural development. in the king’s cross side, architectures are in general much newer compared with the architectural style maintained by architectures in islington side of the area, despite its much better trees planted on the roadside. For example, at 126 York Way, modern style flats and apartments are built on the kings cross side of the road, while on the islington side, there are only old style buildings like the Star of Kings, which has a much longer history than the newly developed and constructed architectural structures in the king’s cross side of the way.

While apartments of modern style architectural design are built on the king’s cross side of the new way, a closer look at the architectural differences between the two sides of the York way shows that shopping malls and recreational centres at the islington side of the York way also are of contemporary architectural design. one such example is the king’s place that can be seen in the figure below. the building uses a huge amount of glass ceilings that are seldom used by architectural style followed by buildings on the kings cross side of the York way. Apparently, shopping malls in islington side are of much more advanced and contemporary design in terms of architectural style compared to the king’s cross side. However, by contrast, the king’s cross side of the York way has much more contemporarily designed apartments, flats and other types of real estate properties.

However, the architectural style difference between the two sides of the York way seems to be much smaller to the north of king’s place. This is clearly shown in the figure below. an array of buildings on the king’s cross side of the York way are adjacent to the railways are of quite old style. This is the same for the buildings right to the islington side, which are also quite old and used by businesses like hotels (e.g. premier inn).

At this part of the king’s cross region, there is less of a difference between the east and west side along the York way as both regions have quite well preserved architectures and buildings built decades ago. On the king’s cross side, the preservation of the building adjacent to the York way might be explained by the reason to achieve a consistency in architectural style of buildings on top of the railways and the ones that are adjacent to them. The preservation of the old buildings no doubt have ensured and improved this consistency of architectural designs in the area.
This is consistent to another priority of the king’s cross regeneration area, which is to “improve the social and physical integration of the estates with the wider area”. By designing and allocating different functions to the many sub-regions in the islington side of the York way, apparently the buildings of old architectural styles can be better preserved. In effective, old style architectural design can offer a sense of prestige and premium for businesses and brands in the hospitality industries, including hotel industry (e.g. premier inn) and restaurants. The physical integration of the estates in old architectural design therefore can be well and effectively integrated into the social aspect of the businesses and people’s life in the local region.
In places where old buildings are not so favorable, such as for shopping malls, contemporary style buildings, instead of well preserved old buildings, can be instead used as more preferable architectures.
The arrangement of the urban planning is also consistent with the priority to make the most of transport hub at king’s cross and improve the public transport to mitigate weaker provisions. Another priority is to improve the commercial and retail provision at the current region. This is ensured by the construction plan of new shopping centres and recreational facilities. The construction of the kings place as a shopping and recreational centre is consistent to this priority in the neighborhood framework document named regenerating king’s cross.
The NFD also highlights the priority to manage the negative impact that can have on transport due to the major new development and connected construction activities. to avoid impacting the local transport negatively, the design of construction plan and activities integrates the potential traffic congestion that will caused to the local area, which is traditionally a severe problem for the city of London. Buildings are constructed in different time periods according to the plan to avoid exert too much negative influence on the local transport.
The types of architectures and their utility are also quite different between the east and west side along the York way. In the east islington area, most architectures are designed and built into traditional houses, while newly built architectures are usually flats that are for the purpose of renting and purchase for property investors in the local region. The coexistence of old fashion buildings and contemporary style low storey apartments is a demonstration of the improved living condition in the local islington area as investors and city dwellers have more options toward finding the desirable shelter and real estate properties in the region.

In comparison, the real estate planning in king’s cross is much simpler as it offers modern flats at 126 York way. This can be seen in the figure below. although both sides of islington and king’s cross are filled with residential real estate properties at this block, the differences in the architectural style is quite different. At the king’s cross side of the York way, more contemporary style buildings are adopted. In the east side of the York way, odl buildings serve not just as commercial properties (e.g. café and restaurant), but also as residential properties for renting, buying and investment purposes as well.
The drastic difference in the architectural style on the two sides of the York way can be easily understood as the location islington side is mainly designed and planned as a residential area, accompanied by industrial area, and commercial properties. However, in the king’s cross side, there is much limited space, a majority of which has already occupied by the traffic network (e.g. northern railway). As a result, there is not much room left for architectural planning to ensure consistency between architectural styles and the functions of the area as a transportation hub.
Still, the king’s cross area manages to properly make use of the regent’s canal as a natural boundary to separate the architectures and buildings with different functions on the two sides. In specific, much of the transportation hub is built to the south side of the canal while the majority of the commercial properties and green area are located also on the north side. Contemporary commercial properties in multi-storey apartments are also constructed to make sure the space is utilized to the maximum. In comparison, islington is not so limited in space and can rely on traditional architecture style that features low utility of space and land area.
On the south side in king’s cross, however, there is no green area at all. Apart from the railways and the associated facilities and buildings, Pancras Square is the only commercial area, while no properties are designed in this region as it is unfit since the transportation hub is too close and would contribute to much noise.
In conclusion, Kings Cross is one of London’s central business districts with a good living and working environment. The Islington Council develops a local development framework for areas close to the king. It should be noted that the local development framework was developed by a variety of smaller-scale projects and was adopted by the Council in 2005. In this part of the King’s Cross, the difference between the east and west sides of the York River is small, as both areas have well-preserved buildings and buildings built decades ago.

At the crossroads of the Kings, the protection of buildings adjacent to the York Road may be due to the consistency of the architectural style of the top of the railway and the buildings adjacent to it. There is no doubt that the protection of old buildings ensures and improves the consistency of architectural design in the area. This is in line with another priority of the King’s Cross-Renewal Zone, which is “improving the social and material integration of the estate and the wider region”. By designing and assigning different functions to many sub-areas on the Islington side of Yorkshire, it is clear that buildings of old architectural style can be better preserved.

In an effective old-fashioned architectural design, it can provide prestige and premium for companies and brands in the hospitality industry, including the hotel industry and restaurants. Therefore, the physical integration of the manor in the old architectural design can be effectively integrated into the social aspects of local businesses and people’s lives. Where the old buildings are less advantageous, such as shopping malls, modern style buildings, rather than well-preserved old buildings, can be used as more preferred buildings.
Urban planning arrangements also prioritize the full use of transportation hubs at Kings Crossroads and improve public transportation to alleviate weaker regulations. Another priority is to improve the commercial and retail supply in the current region. The construction of new shopping centers and entertainment facilities ensures this. The King’s Building, a shopping and entertainment center, is consistent with this priority in a neighborhood framework document called the Reborn King’s Cross. NFD also highlighted priorities for managing the potential negative impacts on transportation due to major new developments and related construction activities. In order to avoid negative impacts on local traffic, the design of construction plans and activities integrates potential traffic congestion to the local area, which has been a serious problem for the City of London.

Buildings are scheduled to be built at different time periods to avoid causing too much negative impact on local traffic. The types of buildings along the east and west sides of the York Way are also very different. In East Islington, most buildings are designed and built in traditional houses, and new buildings are often built for local leasing and buying property investors. Old fashion buildings coexist with modern low-rise apartments, reflecting the improvement in living conditions in the local Islington area, as investors and city dwellers have more choices to find the ideal housing and real estate in the area.

The focus of this presentation is to highlight the main differences in the streetscapes that can be identified between the King’s Cross and its neighboring borough, Islington. Most of the border between the King’s Cross and Islington is the New York Way, separating the two regions. It shows a comparison between the king on the left and the islington on the right. Google Maps shows that significant differences can be found between green areas in two adjacent areas. From the map, it is clear that the green area of ​​the king’s cross is much smaller than its neighboring Islington area. Islington clothing has more standardized, standardized and well-structured block designs in different sections of the area, while King’s Cross is more “casually” designed and planned with less standardized structured structures and buildings.References
Islington (2005) regenerating king’s cross neighborhood framework document, https://www.islington.gov.uk/-/media/sharepoint-lists/public-records/environmentalprotection/publicity/publicconsultation/20112012/20120303neighbourhoodframeworkdocument.pdf.
Islington Council (2014) Cally Plan Supplementary Planning Document January 2014, https://www.islington.gov.uk///~/media/sharepoint-lists/public-records/planningandbuildingcontrol/publicity/publicconsultation/20132014/20140130callyplanspdadoptedjanuary2014.