London was, along with other English cities, one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution. And thanks to it, there was a rapid population growth that made it at that time the largest city in the world.
The main cause of this growth was the rural exodus of the population coming from the countryside to work in the new London factories. In addition, the rural populations near London were turning into small working-class towns that grew without any planning and in which a large part of the population lived crammed in unsanitary conditions.
In this way, unions were emerging for defend workers’ rights and that led, among other things, to the creation of the Garden City Association, to improve the quality of life in residential areas. Here arose the idea of the Garden City, from the urban planner Ebenezer Howard, which consisted in that cities did not grow in height and that they had green areas to improve the health of the population, based on an urbanism of single-family houses with gardens.
Garden city projects spread throughout Britain and later around the world, as did the industrial revolution. The first to be built were Letchworth in 1903 and Welwyn Garden City in 1919, both close to London.
One of the best valued characteristics of London is its enormous extension of green areas and the use that its population gives it. Several of the great parks that the city has today come from royalty, since they were the great extensions of gardens and hunting grounds that belonged to the British Crown. There are eight urban parks that are known as Royal Parks of London, or nine if we add the Brompton cemetery.
The largest of all and perhaps the best known for being the great lung in the center of the capital, is Hyde Park, which has an area of 142 hectares. Inside the park, it doesn’t give the feeling of being in a big city surrounded by buildings, because you can’t see any of them.
Hyde Park and the other royal parks, in addition to being areas of nature where one can walk and rest surrounded by flora, fauna and lakes, are also centers for social gatherings at events and outdoor concerts.
But in addition to the royal parks, the English capital has another 3,000 parks, 144 nature reserves and 30,000 urban gardens spread throughout the metropolitan area. In 2014, the British geographer Daniel Raven Ellison created a website to geolocate all the green spaces in London and claim them in the neighborhoods so that the entire population could know and enjoy them.
The initiative was so successful that in 2018 the mayor of the city, Sadiq Khan, announced his project to create the world’s first Urban National Park in London, based on Daniel’s idea. And the National Park City Foundation was created, with the idea of continuing to disseminate the experience to other cities. It has already attracted interest in Newcastle, Glasgow, Toronto and Adelaide.
The project consists of improving existing green areas in the city and expanding them in those neighborhoods that need them, in order to establish green corridors that connect them through routes throughout the city. And also connect them to the so-called Green Belt of Greater London, located on the outskirts of the city between the municipalities that make up the metropolitan area.
London was chosen in 2020 as the best city in the world to live in, according to the North American consultancy Resonance. For having excellent data on various factors such as economic prosperity, cultural offering, security, quality of life or infrastructure.
The metropolitan region of London and the surrounding municipalities that comprise it have more than 17 million inhabitants. Of which almost 9 million (according to 2019 data) live in the capital across more than 1,500 square kilometers of surface area.
Zoning continues to be one of the main features of the capital’s urban geography. This characteristic is very easy to appreciate in the neighborhoods that form it, as they are very different from each other, with some being very famous for their particularity outside of it as well. Here are some of them: – Financial districts: the best known is the City, where the main office skyscrapers are located and where executives walk through its streets at a fast pace throughout the day.
- Shopping districts: such as Covent Garden, where the famous Piccadilly Circus square is located, in the city centre. This neighborhood is full of shops, restaurants, hotels and theaters. And London’s famous taxis and buses run there at all hours.
Or also Mayflair, where you can find the most luxurious stores, such as jewelry stores and high-end car dealerships.
- Cultural and administrative districts: the district of Westminster. Where are the most emblematic monuments: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Palace or Buckingham Palace.
- Tourist and leisure districts: Without a doubt, Soho, home to London’s famous Chinatown, or the charismatic Camden, a little further away but full of restaurants and souvenir shops.
Then there are the most numerous neighborhoods, the residential ones, among which Chelsea, Kensington and Notting Hill stand out, which stand out for their type of single-family or low-rise buildings and, of course, their garden areas.
Finally, the management of mobility with respect for the environment also stands out. Vehicle use is restricted in central areas and a special fee is charged for those that are more polluting.