It is perhaps quite fitting that the ugliest part of Bristol’s city centre is its high-street Shopping Quarter. I cannot recall ever being in a district so under-representative of its host city as Bristol’s shopping quarter. Combining faceless high-street retail brands and desperately ugly, mid-20th century architecture , the shopping quarter is a ghetto of charmless consumerism to be avoided. While the growth-rings of the Bristol’s past are visible in its world-famous harbour district, the city’s present and future are to be found somewhere along Gloucester Road. Gloucester Road has the largest number of independent traders on any one road in the UK, the people of Bristol – you see – don’t take kindly to multinational commercial conglomerates stepping in on their hometown turf. In Bristol, I am told, individuality ranks high and it is therefor no great surprise when confronted with the seemingly unfathomable number of freaks, geeks, hippies and weirdoes that live and work around Gloucester Road. Street art, in one form or other, adorns almost every flat service in this community and for the most part it’s incredible stuff. Fans of Pixel Pancho, Roa and – of course – Banksy don’t have to search particularly hard before spotting a piece by their favorite artists. Bristol is a city with integrity, gumption and a clear sense of identity. And you can be assured there’s no way they’re going to let anyone mess with that.