At the gates of Memento Park, a huge statue of Lenin greets visitors.

BBC: Ghosts of Budapest��s past

Bleak grey terraces have sprouted gardens, and music and markets enhance a new riverside walk from Vauxhall to Tate Modern (where a rather unpleasant 20-foot anatomical sculpture by Damien Hirst now greets visitors approaching the museum).

ECONOMIST: London��s public spaces have got better, but not good enough