Urban75, also known as U75 or simply Urban, is a
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...
and
internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
based in
Brixton,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and online since 1995.
History
Urban75 originated from a
football comic ''Bluebird Jones'' - an e-zine formed around football fans opposition to the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c.33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights, clamping down on unlicensed r ...
. The campaign received large amounts of exposure in the media, and in May 1995 an unknown helper on the campaign from
Brighton put together the first version of the Urban75 site, using a modem donated by
The Levellers. The site is characterised by an opposition to
mainstream culture and does not carry
adverts
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
. Its editor is founder Mike Slocombe.
The site and forums expanded beyond football and
direct action with a mix of
left-wing politics
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soc ...
,
drugs,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
, and
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...
amongst other interests. As it grew in popularity, it was forced to leave its web host
Demon Internet
Demon Internet was a British Internet service provider, initially an independent business, later operating as a brand of Vodafone. It was List of UK ISPs by age, one of the UK's earliest ISPs, offering dial-up Internet access services from 1 June ...
, and was briefly hosted on the
Head-Space Project until it moved to its own domain in August 1997. Early publicity was generated by
Shockwave games in which politicians and celebrities could be virtually "slapped" or "punched".
In the media
In March 2002, Urban75 entered the national news when
Lambeth police chief
Brian Paddick posted on the forums in order to discuss issues with Brixton's internet users while he was conducting a
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
tolerance experiment. However, when the
tabloid press discovered Paddick's posts on the site, a scandal ensued. In particular, the press highlighted one such post where Paddick had said: "The concept of anarchy has always appealed to me". Paddick subsequently met with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, and accepted criticism of his remarks. No disciplinary action was taken and Paddick remained in his post until his retirement in 2007.
In July 2005, Rachel North posted on the forums her account of having been caught up in the
2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorism, Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, the city's ...
. This was reposted on a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in the days following the attack.
In October 2005, a forum post entitled "Can squirrels get addicted to crack?" was picked up by the local ''
'', leading to a number of national newspapers also running the story.
In September 2006, the technology news website
dubbed Urban75 as "the naughty corner of British politics" after posters on the forum disrupted an online petition in support of then
Urban75 held its first ''Offline'' club night in February 2004, and continues today hosting nights in
, Dogstar, Brixton Jamm Club, 414 Club, and the Prince Albert. Offline hosts a line-up of DJs and has also put on well known acts such as
.