Document 6516961

1: SUMMARY
 London in its European context
 The London Metropolitan region
 Population and urban growth
 London’s growth: post war policy
 Governance and boundaries
 Poverty and disadvantage
 Planning London: new answers to growth
 Planning the Metropolitan Region
 Conclusion
2: ENGLISH AMBIVALENCE TOWARDS LONDON
 When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there
is in London all that life can afford
(Dr Johnson, Lexicographer, 1777)
 But what is to be the fate of the great wen of all? That
monster, called the ‘metropolis of the empire’
(William Cobbett, radical writer, 1821)
(wen = loupe, kyste)
3: LONDON IN ITS EUROPEAN CONTEXT I
4: LONDON IN ITS EUROPEAN CONTEXT II
DATAR identify Paris and London as Europe’s two
“metropoles majeures”:
 Size – 12 and 13 million inhabitants
 Affluence
 Accessibility
 Advanced services
 HQ of multinational companies
 Culture
 tourism
5: THE LONDON METROPOLITAN REGION I
6: THE LONDON METROPOLITAN REGION II
This is where 13 million people live –
But it does not correspond with any administrative unit or
tier of government
7: THE POPULATION OF GREATER LONDON I
Population grew steadily through the 19th and early 20th centuries:
1801
1,011,157
1821
1,450,122
1841
1,917,013
1861
3,094,391
1881
4,709,960
1901
6,226,494
1921
7,553,526
1931
8,098,942
8: THE POPULATION OF GREATER LONDON II
Then fell to 1980s:
1941
7,987,936
1961
7,781,342
1981
6,608,513
And then rapid growth resumed:
1991
6,887,280
2001
7,172,036
2011
8,174,000
9: THE POPULATION OF GREATER LONDON III
Most recent projections:
Population:
2011 Census: 8.17m
2016: 8.5m
2021: 8.8m
2026: 9m
2031: 9.1m/10m ONS
Employment
2031: 4.7m
10: IMPLICATIONS OF LONDON’S GROWTH
By 2031 there could be:
1.2 million more Londoners (to 8.82m)
0.8 million more households
0.7 million more jobs
4 million more trips per day (2023)
And need for
34,900 more homes
1,3-2.2 m sq ft of office space in central London
alone
1.3 – 2.2 m sq ft of comparison retail space
40,000 more hotel bedrooms
11: LONDON’S GROWTH – LAST TIME I
12: LONDON’S GROWTH – LAST TIME II
In the 20th century London grew by spreading outwards:
“Urban sprawl”:
13: LONDON’S GROWTH – LAST TIME III
14: LONDON’S GROWTH: POST WAR POLICY I
From the 1930s London’s growth was regarded as a major problem.

In the 1930s 83% of all new factory building in UK in Greater London area

“Ribbon development” along major roads

After Second World War, factory building in London banned; firms steered to
North, Scotland, Wales

From 1964 until 1970s, office development in London banned

Aim of moving jobs out of London

Ring of London New Towns built – intended to be “self contained communities for
work and living

London and national planning policies aimed at reducing London’s population
The policy question was not “How do you support London’s growth? But “how
do you stop it ?
15: LONDON’S GROWTH: POST WAR POLICY II
The Green Belt
16: LONDON’S GROWTH: POST WAR POLICY III
Purpose of Green Belt:
 To protect the countryside around towns from urban sprawl
 To encourage regeneration of neglected sites within towns and cities
 To prevent towns from merging into each other
Location of industry policy, office development permits, and New Towns
long gone – but Green Belt remains
17: GOVERNANCE I
Timeline:
Before 1854
City Corporation, parishes and vestries
1854-1889
Metropolitan Board of Works
+ parishes and vestries
1889-1964
London County Council
+ 28 Metropolitan Boroughs from 1901
1964-1986
Greater London Council
+32 London Boroughs
1986-2000
No London-wide authority – just the 32 Boroughs
2000 – present
Mayor of London + London Assembly
+ the 32 Boroughs
18: GOVERNANCE II
London Boundaries
19: LONDON BOUNDARIES II
1854: Board of Works boundaries based on 1840s mortality
statistics
1889: London County Council boundaries - same as Board
of Works
1964: Greater London Council “an entity so closely knit, so interdependent, so deeply influenced by the central
area and so largely built up, that it truly makes up the London of today.”
(Herbert Commission)
2000: Mayor and Assembly – same boundaries as GLC
20: GOVERNANCE: TIERS
Mayor of London:
Elected by whole London electorate
Oversees police, fire and Transport for London
Directly responsible for strategic planning
London Assembly;
 25 members, elected by proportional representation
 Scrutinizes Mayor
 Approves Mayoral budget
London Boroughs
 Responsible for local planning
 Responsible for education, personal social services
 Also responsible for parks, refuse collection, street cleaning
21: POVERTY AND DISADVANTAGE I
London a city of rich and poor
 Some of richest neighbourhoods in Britain
 Alongside poor areas
 Areas of high unemployment, low skills, poor housing, low educational
attainment
22: POVERTY AND DISADVANTAGE II
23:PLANNING: NEW ANSWERS TO GROWTH I
The gradual reversal of planned dispersal:
 1977 Inner Cities White Paper
- recognized poverty and disadvantage of inner areas
- end of New and Expanded Towns programmes
 Late 1970s/early 1980s
- end of government controls on factory and office building in
London
- removal of ban on advertising London as business location
 1983 – end of long period of population decline, start of growth
(though not recognized at the time…)
24: THE OLD: THE CITY
25:PLANNING: NEW ANSWERS TO GROWTH II
The transformation of the finance sector
“La ‘City’, un ilot de prospérité dans un océan d’austérité’
(Nice Matin, 3 novembre 1982)
 1979 – abolition of exchange controls
 1986 – ‘Big Bang’ – deregulation of the City
 Internationalisation/globalisation of the banking sector
 ‘a club no more’
26: THE NEW : CANARY WHARF
27: THE NEW: THE SHARD
28: PLANNING: NEW ANSWERS TO GROWTH III
The evolution of London planning
 1943 – County of London Plan
- visionary scheme for post war reconstruction
- much new social housing, but little capacity for infrastructure
 1964 – GLC launches Greater London Development Plan
- takes 10 years to get an approved plan
 1986 – abolition of GLC
- no new planning system
 1992 – “London: World City” report, benchmarks London against global
competitors
 For 14 years London is the only region without a strategic planning
framework
29: PLANNING: NEW ANSWERS TO GROWTH IV
 2000 – restoration of London government; election of first London
Mayor
 2002 – first London Plan: aims to accommodate London’s growth
within the Greater London boundaries
Vision:
“to develop London as an exemplary, sustainable world city, based on
three interwoven themes:
- strong, diverse long term economic growth
- social inclusivity to give all Londoners the opportunity to share
in London’s future success
- fundamental improvements in London’s environment and use of
resources”
30: PLANNING: NEW ANSWERS TO GROWTH V
 2008 – change of Mayor
- pro growth orientation remains
 2011 – revised London Plan:
“the only prudent course is to plan for continued growth”
BUT:
 No effective planning structures for the London Metropolitan region –
except “duty to cooperate” between local authorities
 Abolition of regional spatial strategies For East and South East
 No national spatial plan
 Old consensus about dispersal of people and jobs from London shared
by local and national government – now the decision is for London
31: THE LONDON PLAN