London's Water Hippies
London has always been one of the busiest metropolitans in the World. One of the world’s leading financial and cultural center, the British capital, is hosting more than 13 million inhabitants. The growing population of the city in relation to the chronic housing shortage has made unaffordable fueling a demand for alternative housing. Houseboats are the one of the most popular with about 100,000 people living across London’s canals. The cost of the boat can be dramatically cheaper than a flat of the same size and offers a slower pace of life within the busy capital. Canals are today growing linear villages within London’s waters. These communities are very diverse, they consist of young couples, artists, musicians, families as well as elderly couples. There is also an increasing number of vulnerable people who chose houseboats as an affordable way of life.
It is Saturday morning in Kensal Green. The peaceful landscape across the Grand Union Canal is composed by plenty of sunlight, colorful boats, swans and a metallic structure of the gas work popping up behind the concrete. You can see any kind of narrowboats, any color and any size, every boat is unique as their owners. Yan is one of them. He’s working in the entertainment industry but he is also a vey talented musician. He and his boat have been almost 9 years around London’s canals and traveling every two to three weeks to one of the 2000 moorings. Every boat has to move from one place to another as the permanent mooring license costs some thousands pounds every year. Similarly Andy and Emily, a young couple who have their own boats. They first met in the canals and since then they've been living together. For them, it is not a last resort but the way of life they chose. [To be continued]
