Pop Brixton

Brixton - a strapline that works

Entrance to Pop Brixton, a business park in recycled containers

Pop Brixton - big screen outdoor events venue

Diverse, dynamic, digital businesses

With added beers

Celebrating Universal heroes

Challenging Network Rail over gentrification of the arches

Graffiti that wakes you up

My hero is in the buggy

We normally arrive in Brixton by tube and emerge to the sound of Caribbean drumming, the streets are chock full with people of all ages and ethnicities as they bustle their way to homes, shops and the huge range of venues, cafes, bars and businesses that abound in this vibrant epicentre of London's diversity. This time we had driven down by car to deliver a bike and other paraphernalia to our offspring. The next day we travelled by tube and came face to face with the massive statement over the underground concourse - "Not Them, Only Us". For once it was a tagline that seemed to bear some relevance to the reality of the place. Brixton is such a curious mixture of communities, buildings, cultures and money that conspires a creative street sure purpose amongst its residents.

It includes Papas Park, a children's playground on a bit of waste ground that is run by community volunteers (time philanthropists) and is usually alive with children, parents and grandparents seeking fun and friendship in the heart of Brixton. The Council have recently indicated that they will no longer be able to fund the park so a campaign to find alternative funding is starting up. The whole area is buzzing with new developments as it has become one of the sought after locations in London in recent years. Its position at the terminus of the Victoria underground line means there is a tube every 2 minutes to central London, which is reached in 15 minutes. There are big event venues like the O2, a stupendous array of eateries, good parks, outstanding schools, a thriving local cinema, library and bus services in all directions.

There are downsides too, like the main shopping street being the most polluted in London after Oxford Street, a high proportion of people on the breadline living in crowded or poor accommodation. It has a high profile police presence that creates tension with speeding cars and noisy sirens that are evident 24/7. It is on the flight path to Heathrow airport, and despite a night flight limit of 5800 landings and takeoffs a year is still enough to disturb sleep for hundreds of thousands of people in this corridor of south London. Network Rail has decided to cash in on the arches below the overground lines and dozens of small businesses are being evicted to allow upgrading the arches to generate a higher rental income. Some of the large murals made it clear how much this was despised by the existing community that has been nurtured in the dilapidated old buildings of Brixton. It is gratuitous urban gentrification in the beating heart of Brixton that focuses on the markets and independent shops that cluster around the underground station and Electric Avenue.

Nearby a new business park has been created by the simple expedient of stacking containers on two levels to create an intimate environment for new businesses to thrive. Being Brixton there are cafes offering cuisines from all parts of the world as well as local craft beers and a smattering of new technology businesses. A large space has been created between some containers for local concerts and an outdoor sports pitch doubles as a venue for big screen events. It had been the perfect place to watch European football and the Olympics in the summer. The whole place had a collective vibe that is multicultural, relaxed and edgy; just like Brixton village.

The streets are full of indigenous graffiti. Alongside Bob Marley painted on the shutters of a lock up street stall are dramatic cartoons of gaming characters. We ate at the Ritzy cinema, listened to the street musicians and observed the building of a new Council HQ being built along with lots of social housing next to the existing town hall. Lambeth will be closing all its other offices once the new building opens. I spent quite a bit of time wheeling our grandson round the streets and posed him as my hero in front of David Bowie, who had been just another celebrated Brixton resident.