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A New Kind of Bleak: Journeys Through Urban Britain is a 2012 book by Owen Hatherley and a follow-up to A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain, in which he seeks to use "architecture and town planning" as a "way to talk about politics".

Overview
Hatherley's aim in A New Kind of Bleak is to find a means of "rebuilding cities that is not just aesthetically superior, but also more equitable" while highlighting the "miserable, abandoned present". He warns that the book concentrates "perhaps overmuch on the gory details of some extremely unlovely places" in its demonstration that Britain's architecture represents the "exterior decoration of evil".

Hatherley describes Anish Kapoor's Orbit tower as "embarassing", calls Coventry "flawed, tarnished by the usual neoliberal trash like everywhere else", and criticises the placement of advertising in its railway station. He sums up the Shard as "an act of urban thuggery" and notes the evocation of RoboCop and the work of Andrei Tarkovsky in the Lloyd's building. He finds many of the worst architectural mistakes in the Birmingham planned by Herbert Manzoni, which is noteworthy for its "monstrous typicality"; and finds Dartford "desperately sad". Hatherley also criticises the work of Banksy.

Nonetheless, he assesses Plymouth in a positive light and calls the University of Leicester a "superb mini city". He also finds sensitivity in the City of London and suggests Cumbernauld as a site of architectural inspiration. Hatherley advocates a new landscape built by trade unions, students and the young unemployed.

Critical reception
The Metro described A New Kind of Bleak as "a timely counterpoint to Britain’s jubilee and Olympics self-congratulation", and Hatherley as "impassioned and political" in his judgements. Sarah Morrison of The Independent concurred, calling it "[e]arnest and well-researched," but warns readers "there's a lot of misery."

Igor Toronyi-Lalic of The Daily Telegraph, however, described Hatherley as "a very angry young thing" whose thesis is contradicted by reality, and summed up A New Kind of Bleak as a "childish rant" written in a "flabby style".