Joseph Bazalgette’s subterranean network did more than prevent epidemics and reduce the city stink – it fundamentally altered the relationship between the individual and the modern metropolis, says Barbara Penner

With less than a year to go before the 2012 Olympics in London, how is the park shaping up – and what difference will the multi-billion-pound project make after the athletes leave? Kieran Long looks at what it tells about how the British make cities.