Yvonne Jewkes, University of Brighton
The “new for old” prison reform programme would close old city-centre jails in British cities, such as the iconic HMPs Pentonville, Wandsworth and Strangeways. Speculation about what will replace these notorious Victorian “houses of correction” has been rife.
These and more recent prisons also slated for closure, such as HMP Holloway, occupy valuable city centre sites. Some will be bulldozed or redeveloped as housing – or even, as with the former HMP Oxford, as a boutique hotel with rooms designed around the former cells, exercise yards and punishment blocks. Continue reading “How to build better prisons”