You could say the same thing if you simply saw photos of La Defense in Paris.

I'm not a fan of Canary Wharf, which has all the charm of the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, and buildings like The Shard - whilst impressive feats of engineering and design - don't have a human scale and are representative of developers seeking to make the maximum return on investment from very small parcels of land.

But if you ignore that area and those structures - which are mainly confined to an area between Farringdon St and Tower Bridge (west and east) and the Thames to the south - London is still a city rich in history, albeit unnecessarily grubby in places.

The more worrying thing is what happens at street or market level where the old retail tapestry is being eroded by coffee chains, fast food outlets and mobile phone shops.