I find it astonishing to think that, just a week or so ago, I was in Casablanca. I have, of course, returned to taking my daily trundles around east London, but the problem is these streets now seem far too wide, quiet and frankly dull in comparison to the enchanting chaos that I encountered on holiday. London is a well maintained, modern city, but the problem with that is, it’s regulated normalcy means it lacks the character other cities have.

I was thinking about this out on my trundle today over in Canary Wharf. The Isle of Dogs feels more like Manhattan every year, it’s forest of skyscrapers becoming denser and denser. There is clearly a hell of a lot of money in that area. Only it now seems too sanitised and uninspiring.

On my walk, then, I decided that what London needs is a medina. Forget about any more ornate shopping malls, huge entertainment arenas or ultra expensive tube lines; what London needs to build itself next is a warren of capitalist chaos like the one I encountered in Morocco. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if London had such a space: small yet full of life, crammed with hundreds of tiny shops and stalls, along countless labyrinthine paths, up and down which guys on mopeds zoom, avoiding customers within a hair’s breadth? Perhaps creating such an area would help London revive the feelings of passion, spice and zest which seem to have been slowly ebbing away from it for decades. Under all the modern concrete, steel and glass, London now seems sterile and, frankly, dull; what it needs is a peppering of the exotic to bring the city back to life.

Now, I know that medinas aren’t usually planned or created, but have often evolved within a city over many years; I’m also aware of the dangers of cultural appropriation. Yet I can’t help feeling amused by the idea that London could, perhaps, create such a space. Of course, I have no idea where it might be built – Woolwich, perhaps? – or how it would function within the wider metropolitan economy; yet the thought of one day going in my powerchair from my flat, and heading into somewhere so exotic and thriving with life is too intriguing to dismiss.