Mark Provan

Tenement maintenance enthusiast.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@isnit0 @StephenWensley And, this infra is for people. Wealthier societies give each resident more floor space. Houses that had 6 living there now have 3 or less, then social novelties like split custody too to reduce it further. Old people hold on to big houses rather than downsizing so schools die.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@isnit0 @StephenWensley The alternative of building sprawl doesn't work either. Whatever you build needs to be able to generate enough value to cover the pipe replacements in 50-100 years. This is far easier in more dense areas given that fixed costs are so high. 2x the capacity doesn't cost 2x as much.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills And that music lovers have started campaigning against new flats in urban areas because they bring residents who will later cause the venues to be curtailed or shut down for noise complaints. If we had more housing, no one would need to live near a venue like that. Hotels only.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills It's a worthwhile exercise to map through how some boomer/NIMBY resistance to fixes is an nth order consequence of our planning/tax/housing system. E.g. how council housing priority lists often justify NIMBY action against new developments given likely new antisocial tenants.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills Windrush demonstrates what happens when you try to base immigration decisions on incomplete databases. Completing the database is hard but worthwhile, albeit getting easier over time given that younger people interact more with databases today (e.g. moving house, having passport)

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills "ID cards" is really a story of having one complete population register rather than N slightly different ones. The bit of plastic is the least interesting part. The completeness is the point, as then you can prosecute/forcibly fix the edge cases where illegal migration survives.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills Also, LVT in miniature is the shopping centre. One landowner, rent based on market value of floorspace not your utilisation, ability to improve shared realm. Right to exclude antisocial behaviour is critical. Urban hotspots would be managed best like this not as normal streets.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills It's also a building age problem. Ground floor/street sounds are perfectly manageable with modern construction and sufficient height. Low rise Victorian buildings can't insulate you from noise. Housing shortage/Maslow hierarchy means residential is winning out vs commercial.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills The system has kinda worked so far because any interface with industrialised society (e.g. 19th C railway/city growth) has sorted most issues, while leaving non-industrialised society largely in peace. 99% of the gain, <20% of the pain. Like how most Britons have passports vs IDs

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills I wonder though to what extent the murkiness of the system is load bearing. E.g. mandatory land registration means having one database making it clear the extent to which the Crown/Royals/poshos in general own or have interests over land in the UK. Would that be dangerous?

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@ArnoldLabour @peterrhague Since you can burn things at scale to produce electricity, and we need electricity for civilisation anyway. Fuel is therefore only needed when you're leaving civilisation, e.g. flying or exploring the wilderness. Diesel/Jet A-1 will be available "forever" for that reason.

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills Nearby amenities are interesting. An argument for trams vs improved buses is that trams are permanent signal, while buses can be removed. The market overall won't price in a Gail's but it will price in the more durable fact that a Gail's is a viable business given local clientele

[Mark Provan @MarkProvanP]

@Jonathan_55555 @tomhfh @johndotwills Already some interesting economics/stats for modelling. E.g. use second price to avoid winner's curse. Look at macroeconomic trends: land value up if energy prices down etc. All of this is boring everyday for City firms. Compute is trivial compared to what Big Tech does.