Founded by the Romans shortly after the birth of Christ, London has seen its fair
share of destruction and rebirth. The city has survived several devastating fires,
widespread poverty and heavy firebombing in World War II. On the other hand, London
has been home to several of the world’s most successful monarchs (such as Queens
Victoria and Elizabeth II), was the headquarters of the vast British Empire, and
is now the epicentre of hipness – its edgy chic spiraling out of control not unlike
the cost of its real estate. This resilience must be based upon something: “The guys
who planned out London way back knew compass formulas and how to read the landforms
when they positioned everything,” Coxon says. However, he adds that the configuration
of the illustrated area – the main seat of government and royalty, works best if
Britain’s governmental structure of a surviving monarchy coupled with a parliament
is left as it is.
In this district, both Buckingham Palace’s distance from the nearest buildings, and
the presence of water in St James’s Park, indicate that female monarchs rule much
longer and become much wealthier than male monarchs, who are adversely affected by
the facades of surrounding buildings (think of Queen Victoria). The River Thames
behind the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben predisposes governments to weakness and
budget deficits, but only in their first terms. Governments who survive this initial
difficult period then gain energy from the landmass on the other side of the Thames.
The location of Westminster Abbey, one of the oldest structures in London, predisposes
a slight “irritation” between it and the Houses of Parliament (i.e. church and state).
None of these effects is major, however. If one were to reconsider Britain as a republic
set up for long periods of stable governments and wealth, a configuration could be
based on the strength of a slightly rotated Buckingham Palace, which would make a
wonderful living quarter for a president, no matter what gender.