A New London from the Ruins of the Old -
LATHAM, LORD
A New London from the Ruins of the Old — Labor Has the Plan By LORD LATHAM Labor Party Leader of the London County Council IN the Autumn of 1940, when the bombing of London was at its height, I...
...Tunnels would form an important part in certain of the larger main road projects...
...No one would wish tp make London mainly a place for tourists or to restrict the future by reproducing the past...
...A Unified P/oa for Money IN the san\e way as this plan is much ¦ more than a blue print for laying out* roads and streets and siting buildings, but is a unitary conception or a planned centre of population, so, In the principles and pattern of planning which it embodies it is of value not oiwy for London but for other cities and towns needing re-development, whether in Great Britain or elsewhere...
...The authors very wisely suggest ¦ I bat these should bo considered by a specially appointed investigating body to be set up for this purpose...
...The Council has published and put on sale the plan under the title of "County of London Plan" (published by Macmillan...
...When the Germans try to strike a bargain with their enemies, it would be well to have a man in tha saddle whom.their enemies trust per- f. sonally," they said in a WQXR broadcast...
...Never theless, it would be unwise to prescribe any definite period for any particular stage...
...Nothing perhaps so graphically expresses the courage and faith of London in ultimate victory as that decision in those dark and difficult but proud days...
...They also propose that expert advice should be obtained with regard to the location of aerodromes and their co-ordination with the road ahd rail systems...
...The plaji does not cover Greater London, the .populous areas outside the county boundary, but tha 116 square miles known as the County of London, which has a population estimated in 1MB at about four millions living in over 800,000 dwellings, and a rateable value of over fifty-three millions...
...As regards the railways, which with their embankments, cuttings, road bridges, sidings, as well as the location of some stations, constitute such fqr-midahlcohHtacles to desirable planning, the plan contains many far-reaching long-term proposals...
...This plan contains a suggested program for a first period, embracing )13 extensive Housing and Reconstruction schemes in tha East End of London, covering an area of roughly 1,600 acres and in areas on the South Bank of the Thames...
...3) an ambitious program of new roads ami improve-meats of others designed to give the maximum relief to traffic congestion and to lay the foundation of a properly co-ordinated road system, and (4) provision of new open spaces in the congested areas where they are so badly needed...
...It is seldom realised, even by Ixmdoners, that I-ondon is one of the greatest cent res of engineering in Britain...
...J. H. Forshaw, with whom was associated as Consultant, Professor Patrick Abercrombie...
...no plan can be final and fixed, bat must be flexible and capable of adaptation to the shape of things to come: this plan combines these desiderata...
...It is proposed -to reopen the exhibition at the Royal Academy in London at the cod of October...
...It is important here to state quite clearly that even the commencement of any of the projects of this plan, or indeed, of any plan, will depend on Parliament giving the London County Council as a planning authority, much wider and more expeditious powers to plan and to acquire any necessary land or property on fair and equitable terms...
...The plan c givers the whole of the Ad a ministratiye County of London^with exception of the city (one square mile): the City Corporation are preparing a plan for the city...
...In April, 1941, with the attacks still continuing the London County Council took the first steps in fulfillment of that promise: it decided to prepare a plan for the re-development and re-building of the County of London...
...It will equally depend upon appropriate financial arrangements being made with the government...
...The editors 'of Time believe that General Fritz von Mannstein will be the heed of the next government ia Germany...
...The proper siting of schools with adequate play areas and the appropriate location of hospitals " and other" Civic buildings and shopping...
...is still one of the pivots of world commerce and finance and it is also a great hive, of industry, immense in scope and .infinite in variety...
...Franco Recognises Mussolini . Government . . . Again Spain's fascist dictator its slapped tin' United Nations in the fa 6. According to s Berlin browienst, he h is -recognized the puppet govrenment of Mussolini set up by the Nazis in north-em Italy...
...This plan has been received with almost unbroken praise and commendation: seldom has a great municipal project earned such appreciation from all and sundry as this unique and fundamental study of the complex and multiform problems of planning a vast centre of population and human activ-.^ily^.ThJsJs.1 plan not for lines but of lives: it is not a bare blueprint on the drawing board, but is a profound sociological study expressed in terms of planning the physical needs of an immense urban centre peopled not by robots, but by living persons...
...County of London every kind of industry and commerce can be found with the exception of coal mining...
...it includes one of the moat important ports in the world...
...It is not too much to say that the County of London plan may well become a classic of the principles of planning great urban aggregations of people and of Industry and commerce—of life, work and leisure...
...It must be so devised as to permit of urgent and immediate projects being carried out without prejudice to its general conception and pattern, even if both have to be modified to meet the unforeseeable needs of the future...
...Thy"plan must be both short*ternr and long-term...
...In order to break up the untidy, sprawling mass of dreary and monotonous streets of poor and obsolete houses, cheek by jowl with industry and without open spaces, the platl proposes the comprehensive reconstruction of damaged and obsolete areas, seeking a community unity of dwellings, schools, shops an'1 civic btrilolfigs with adequate open spaces, my\ the suppression of minor rfJtifnchnt m t eetr uftrt the better layout...
...It was from the same radio station that the world first learned that Franco had recognized the puppet government established in the Philippines by . Japan...
...centres are all part of the plan...
...If democracy is gov-ernmeqtuby discussion, this is democracy in action...
...Von Mannstein To Be German's Dorian...
...This plan, indeed any plan for the County of London, is perhaps a fifty years* job...
...Price 12/6) in a handsome book of some 60,000 words, with about 160 photographs, maps, designs and sketches...
...The first edition of 10,000 is already gold out and another edition is in preparation...
...Eliminating the Hum Area* IF the blight of the East End and • other over-built up areas In London is to -be removed, if wider roads and streets are to be laid out, if adequate open spaces are to be provided, with more spacious siting of dwellings, and if a general lowering of the density of population on the ground is to be achieved, it is inevitable that a number of families must be housed outside the county, on cottage estates suitably located for traveling and work, London cannot be satisfactorily de-congested within London itself...
...The nutliors of , the plan estimate thgt it might be necessary to remove about 500,000 people if decent housing accommodation amid proper amenities is to be generally provided...
...I believe it is true to «ay that in the...
...Appeasement evidently doesn't pay dividends, even now...
...Only after the London County Council has gathered in and considered the views of interested authorities and persons, will it, as...
...s*Qenerally it seeks to control the re-development of London in such a wgy that it will be a place where people can live and work and play in healthy and pleasant surroundings and where industry and commerce can prosper, and the arts and graces ef civilization e«n flourish: These are the essential requirements of any acceptable plan...
...It is for the people jf London to say whether they want a planned, tidy,- healthy and beautiful London...
...Better and safer communications would be obtained by new or widened roads, designed to separate through from local traffic by means of a system of three great ring roads...
...The plan aims at reconstructing and decentralizing -^-.----the outworn and over-crowded areas by securing a more spacious location of dwellings and other buildings, together with the better and more economical use of land...
...A New London from the Ruins of the Old — Labor Has the Plan By LORD LATHAM Labor Party Leader of the London County Council IN the Autumn of 1940, when the bombing of London was at its height, I told the people of London in a broadcast message that no matter what destruction the enemy might do we would, when peace came, build a better and nobler London...
...Thus the people, either directly or through their representative bodi>s, will be able to sec what the new London could be and be able to have their say about it...
...2) the commencement of the redevelopment of the South Bank area, with a worthy and dignified reconstruction of the river front from County Hall (the home, of the London County Council) to the new Waterloo Bridge, with a riverside embankment" and open spaces and proposals for a new cultural centre...
...A Fifty, reor Job of Rebuildinej ""¦"•HIS gives a broad outline of the * principles and proposals of the plan...
...This may prove to be an outside/ figure, and, it . may be partly achieved] by the normal' fan of the population of the county of London which has been manifest for some years...
...This will involve not only the decentralization of some of the population, but also of roughly equivalent industry and commerce to new locations both within and without the county...
...To do that would be to devitalize London with consequences which could not fail to be socially and eco-mically harmful...
...the planning authority, proceed to decide its policy upon the" principles and projects of the plan...
...There is not room enough...
...Whilst preserving and tidying up the industry and commerce on the banks of the river Thames—that great artery of human activity—the plan endeavors to give a wider public access to the itn-pressive beauty and amenity of tl >« greatest pt open spaces...
...What is typical and beautiful from the past—and there is much— must be preserved and its setting improved, but the new London must also express the thoughts and aspirations of the present, and at the same time provide for the possible needs of the future...
...of others...
...At the same time any plan must envisage stages of its execution...
...London as a Piece re live VUpAT does the plan seek to do...
...aw.-iy from the main irnffip routesj Communications across .the, Thames, would be improved by additional bridges linking the north and south of the river, thus encouraging the needed re-development of certain areas on the south side...
...However, we must not lightly pursue a policy which would involve the removal of too many- of the young, active and virile people from Ixinjloii...
...one of the foremost Architects and Town Planners in this -country...
...After over two years of intensive study and research into the life, habits, needs, both of work and leisure, of the people of London of today and tomorrow, the plan was finished and was presented to the London County Council on the 1.1th of July last, u date which may well become historic in the long and colorful history of London...
...In addition, in order that the people of London may see for themselves what the plan contains, an exhibition of maps and drawings illustrative of its main features, is being held at the County Hall which, up to the time of writing, no less than about 50,000 people have visited...
...The preparation of the plan was entrusted to the Council's Architect, Mr...
...The burden of oppressive compensation to private owners must be eased and the right of the public to a fair share of any enhancement of land values recognized...
...There are far-reaching proposals for remedying the present acute mal-dis-tribution and inadequacy of open spaces by the provision of many uew large 1 and small areas for rest and recreation suitably situated...
...This area comprises the Capital ef the British Commonwealth of Nations, the seat of Government, and is the national centre of culture andtne arts...
Vol. 27 • January 1944 • No. 1
