London Skaters Fought Gentrification, and Won

If you've been to London, and if, while there, you happened to stroll along the south bank of the Thames near the Southbank Centre, you may have noticed a gritty little pocket decorated with graffiti and filled with skateboarders.

That vibrant, gritty pocket in the undercroft of the Southbank Centre has been a place for British skaters to practice since the 70s. In the decades since, it has also attracted other urban arts and activities - graffiti artists, street performers, and BMX bike riders - so much so that it now appears in some London tourist brochures.

In 2013 a plan was announced to develop the undercroft into shops and cafes, but the skateboard community and others banded together to save their space. Last week they announced that the space would be preserved as-is, and allowed to continue as a venue for skaters, performance artists, and others. It probably didn't hurt that they had Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, on their side.