London is overpriced, flat and boring: so what is it for?

During cool Britannia, it was the place to be. But despite a revival of all things Nineties, people are abandoning a city that was once a magnet for dreamers and schemers. I know why, says Anna Hart, and what the capital needs to do to compete with its rivals...

Suddenly nobody wants to live in the capital anymore - can London ever get its mojo back? (iStock)

Growing up in Belfast in the late 1990s and early 2000s, any kid with a creative mind, an adventurous spirit or an entrepreneurial streak had one ambition: get yourself to London. London was where our lives would begin, a vast international incubator for good ideas.

We’d be inspired by the talented generations before us, galvanised by influences from people from other countries, and surely we’d find people with the money to make things happen.

Today, London has plenty of people with money. But London is no longer happening. It feels flat, overpriced and boring. Why? Because London has pushed out the people with ideas, hopes and dreams that made it an exciting place to be.