What follows is an edited version of Hackney's plans for Dalston over the next 15 years.

 'Hackney Council has secured £1.3million from the Mayor of London to transform Kingsland High Street as part of the Council's major improvements to Dalston town centre. And it has secured an additional £1m from the London Development Agency (LDA) as part of its commitment to supporting the Council to transform Dalston.

The funding was granted after the Council submitted proposals developed with Design for London to transform the area, which include better walking and cycling routes, planting more trees to make the town centre greener, and providing improved lighting. There will also be new crossing points between Ridley Road and Dalston Kingsland station, and the relocation of bus stops and cycle stands. Further plans to make the town centre easier and safer to get around include dropped kerbs for wheelchair users and those with pushchairs, safer crossings for blind and visually impaired pedestrians, 20mph speed limits and introduction of CCTV.

 The transformation of Kingsland High Street links closely with the Dalston masterplan which the Council adopted in January. The masterplan is designed to guide growth and investment in Dalston over the next 15 years. A new London Overground station will be opened at Dalston Junction by June and it is estimated that up to five million people could use the station every year. Around the station, the Council is working with partners to build 500 new homes, a new library and public archive, shops, restaurants and a modern public square.'

This is all very well, and Dalston certainly needs regeneration, but what's going to happen to the usual litany of crack dens, street crime, late-night muggings and stabbings and the disgraceful state of Gillett Square, home to one of the UK's finest jazz clubs and a desolate potentially dangerous urban desert. Has anyone had a look at what the public squares are like in the major sophisticated cities of Europe? Doesn't look that way.