eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

The built up area of London can currently be identified with some precision, thanks to the Green
Belt policy of the post war period. The Metropolitan Green Belt describes the open land which
extends for between 25-40 km in width around the city of London (Longley et al. 1992). The
Green Belt was implemented in the 1944 Greater London Plan (Abercrombie 1945) with the aim
of containing the growth of the urban area, preventing urban sprawl, preserving open land for
agriculture and recreation, as well as preventing the coalescence of the small and medium sized
towns located within it. Longley et al. (1992) argue that the Green Belt is likely to have
significantly affected the geometry of the urban form, and the continuous built-up area of
London has not extended much beyond that of 1939, although the Green Belt policy has caused
the densification of the suburbs and infilling.
Two types of growth have been apparent in the London region: the peripheral expansion of the
metropolis, and expansion clearly related to London but occurring beyond the boundary of the
continuous built-up area (Hall 1974). The former dominated from around 1870 to 1930, the latter
form of expansion has dominated since 1930, although both have been present at all times. In
latter years the continuous built-up area has increased very slowly, while there have been higher
rates of growth, both in urban coverage and population beyond the Green Belt.
From the maps presented in Figure 2.5 and Figure 2.6 (page 43 and 44) it is possible to analyse
the expansion of London at given times in the past 200 years. These maps are taken from Sinclair
(1964) and Mogridge et al. (1997). In 1800 the city consisted of a compact urban area with a
small number of outlying centres. By 1850 some expansion had taken place in both the centre
and the outlying areas, with the central built-up area still remaining relatively compact. A map
for 1880 shows both substantial suburban development as well as the growth of the centres
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