In a city that feels like a living embodiment of malaise, there stands at its heart a brightly-lit Mecca to laziness. London’s Winter Wonderland. This might seem like the most benign event in the world to attack, but for me it represents so much more about our culture than just an expensive distraction.

In a cheery article in the News Shopper we can get an insight as to why Winter Wonderland is “the best thing about Christmas in London”. Because we’re knuckle dragging mouth-breathers with little ability to process anything unless it’s neatly cut up into pieces our thick brains can’t choke on, they’ve broken it down into twelve bullet points. These range from the meaningless (It’s massive) to the weirdly unexciting (It’s like a Christmas market, why the like?) to the completely wasteful (Santa’s there).

It’s a fun fair, in a park, where things cost a lot of money and it’s brightly lit and music is playing. That means we’re having fun right? Because our senses are being stimulated? Because we’re going to do something, because we’ve actually met up with some people only to ignore them by doing something, something that isn’t just counting down the days until the week is over. Right? Right?

For me, Winter Wonderland is no better than parasailing. Go once, go look at things you’ve already seen from slightly higher up. But when you’re sitting in the saddle, as the air calmly rushes past you, and you realise that just looking at stuff isn’t interesting anymore, what becomes the real experience? The tranquility. You can get that from sitting in a chair and looking at a sunset or opening a window on a rainy night. But to go more than once? And to get more out of it a second time? I don’t know. It’s not fair for me to decide what makes people happy, but I don’t think parasailing or Winter Wonderland give any real joy, they’re just easy distractions that when looked at from a larger perspective melt away into lonely experiences that mask any real activity or hold any real value.

I mean, what is Christmas about? Strip away the religious aspect of it and it’s a celebration of togetherness, of warmth to other humans, of charitable action to one and all and about showing genuine love for your friends, family and strangers.

If the best thing about Christmas in London is a bunch of carnies hawking chocolate fountains and queuing for an hour to go on a mechanised swing then I think the Royal Parks are doing this city and its people a great disservice. It’s lazy. You can go to a fun fair any time, but with one of the most storied pieces of land in any part of the world, in one of the most important locations in history, with the amount of people and power that carries… to waste it on some disposable attractions feels like such a disappointment.

This city can do better. It’s a city which folds in over itself on the fact that people come here in their droves and just exist. It’s a city where people spend time discussing what the best burger is or why a pub is great. It’s where people do things they don’t like so they can have brief moments of joy bookending the mire. It’s a city that needs leaders, people who can be brave enough to show the citizens what they need, not give them what they think they need. London is already stuffed to the brim with utterly half-hearted attempts at taking people’s money and time. And the centre of it, Hyde Park, shouldn’t be the same, it should be different, it should be bold, it should be challenging and therefore it should be something the people of London are proud of.

I’m opening myself up to all sorts of very acceptable criticism by using this as an example, but look at what the Millennium Dome was when it first opened: a monument of all that is who we are and will be, our existence framed, a celebration of humankind. Unfortunately it was a complete disaster, lacking in a clear vision and just things to really see or do. But at least an attempt was made. At least an attempt was made to be adventurous with a space, to try to make it something with inherent value, not just somewhere for people to ignore reality for a few moments.

Hyde Park is unique in that it is a vast swathe of idyllic greenery in a mash of centuries of architecture and mixed-feeling. It’s a place of joy to so many people because it’s a respite from the mania the streets around it possess. It’s not fair that at Christmas, a period with such clearly defined notes, we waste it by filling it with the same old shit.

Hyde Park at this time of year should be an embodiment of what is best about our city, about what is best about us as people. About who we really are. It should be filled, if it needs to be filled at all, with beautiful displays that accentuate the nature around it, that tell stories about human kindness, that make us reflect on why we live our lives, what’s important to us. It doesn’t need bombast and fanfare to make it attractive, it should draw people in because they want to feel something different. We won’t get that message across to them by shoveling the same trite nonsense they can find at any number of perfunctory pop-ups around the capital all year round.

The fact Royal Parks, both the physical places and the charity, exist are a testament to the care and thought of some sensible people, to preserve something about this city that was more important as a concept than just space needing to be filled. We need to do better than what we’re doing now, we can make something genuinely magical that doesn’t rely upon gimmick, that challenges the mind and soothes the soul. Our city needs these smart people again to take a risk and be different.

It shouldn’t matter, if people go to Winter Wonderland and feel like they’re having fun then that’s good for them, everyone deserves to feel fulfilled. I just know deep inside me we can fill that void in them with something far greater, something far more impactful. We can make something that will leave a mark on them, an experience that represents this incredible city in a way that makes us proud to call it our home. Right now we’re barely even treading water.