London
Overview
Population of 9 million people
100.9 crimes per 1000 people
Urban Forms
Arrangement
Split into boroughs, all with their own centres E.g. Oxford Street in the centre of London and large shopping developments further out (Westfields in Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush in West London)
London was founded on the narrowest point of the river to put a bridge across, also easy access to rest of Europe
Houses developed in ribbon developments, once roads were full the spaces between the developments started to fill
In 1950s urban expansion controlled with green belts
1960s council estates built in suburban fringe
IMD
Thames was central to industry and working class housing built along the river eastwards
West rained wealthier than east
Land more valuable closest to centre
Varied centres
City of London - known colloquially as the Square Mile, major business and finance centre
Westminster - Britains government departments
Camden - world famous Camden Markets attract 250000 visitors every week, sell all sorts. Also fashion and marketing agencies like ASOS
Canary Whaf - britains second largest financial centre many of europes tallest buildings located there, could be an edge city
The East End - Londons technology hub, silicon roundabout with Amazon, Facebook, EE, and google
Varied Characteristics
Little Venice, Canary Wharf and Brick Lane are all different parts of London with different built environments, land uses, population characteristics, locale and sense of place
30 million tourists per year
41% of people are black or from an ethnic minority
300 languages spoken
Home to some of the worlds top universities
3 international airports
Urban Change
Urbanisation
Peaked in mid 1900s
Recent growth from net international migration
Increase of 690,000 residents between 2001-10
Positive impacts
Negative impacts
Agglomeration - easier to provide services to people living closer together
28% of Londoners live in poverty - this is highest in black or ethnic minority (38%)
Violence and sexual offences 2x more prevalent
Suburbanisation
Occurred in 1960-70s when car ownership encouraged people to migrate
‘White flight’ occurred as wealthy white moved away from inner city areas
Deindustrialisation
Collapse of manufacturing began in 1950s due to protectionism, trade unions, high exchange rates and lack of competitiveness
In 1978 there were 6.7 million manufacturing workers, in 2017 there were 2.7 million
Inequality
IMD
Most deprived are mostly in central eastern parts of the city
Less deprived areas are in the suburbs and more western parts of the city
Structural Unemployment
London has shed over 600,000 manufacturing jobs and shifted to a post-industrial city
Jobs are more high skilled meaning the manufacturing workers do not have the correct skill set and are unemployed
Increasing property markets means the original community has been pushed out leading to socioeconomic inequality
Physical Environment
Sewage
Air pollution
Urban sprawl
The Victorian ‘combined sewer systems’ were designed for 4 million people and London has 9 million people. The network is at 80% capacity in dry weather.
The overload sewer system routinely discharges raw sewage into the Thames (on average once a week)
In preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games east London was cleared up. 2.2 million square metres of soil was excavated to be treated by soil washing and chemical stabilisation.
London has the greatest proportion of dwellings built on previously developed land (98%). This preserves greenfield sites, historical landmarks and reduces sprawl.
Nitrogen dioxide levels breach EU legal limits. 8.3% of deaths in Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster are linked to air pollution
8.3 million trees provide £95 million worth of air filtration
Since 2019, the ULEZ has cut the number of older polluting vehicles on roads and contributed to 44% reduction in roadside nitrogen dioxide within it’s boundaries
500 London buses produce zero emissions at the tailpipe. A fully zero emission bus fleet will be achieved as soon as possible and no later than 2037.
Area of 1572 km squared with a population density of 5701 people per km squared