'Greater London' is the top-level administrative subdivision covering
London,
England. The administrative area was created in 1965 and covers the
City of London and 32
London boroughs. Its area also forms the London
region of England and the
London European Parliament constituency. The Greater London region has by far the
highest GDP/capita in the entire
United Kingdom.
It covers 1579 km² (609 square miles) and had a 2006 mid-year estimated population of 7,512,400.
It is bounded by the
Home Counties of
Essex and
Hertfordshire in the
East of England region and
Buckinghamshire,
Berkshire,
Surrey and
Kent in
South East England. The highest point is Westerham Heights, in the
North Downs and on the boundary with Kent, at 245 metres (804 feet).
Status
Greater London is not a city in that it does not have official
city status granted by the Crown. This is because one of the
London boroughs,
Westminster, is officially a city,
[1] as well as the
City of London itself which would make such a status anomalous. Despite this, Greater London is commonly regarded as a city in the general sense of a municipality. A
Lord Lieutenant of Greater London is appointed for its area, less the City of London; an area identical to the
Metropolitan Police District; and for the purposes of the
Lieutenancies Act 1997 this area is defined as a
county.
[2]
The term "London" is normally used in reference to Greater London or to the overall conurbation, but not often to the ancient, tiny
City of London in east central London. Instead, this small area is often referred to simply as "the City" or "the Square Mile" and it forms the main financial district. Archaically the urbanised area of London was known as the
Metropolis. In common usage, the terms 'London' and 'Greater London' are usually used interchangeably to refer to the conurbation.
It is officially divided for some purposes, with varying definitions, into
Inner London and
Outer London. For strategic planning purposes the region is divided into five
sub regions.
Politics
The Greater London Authority is based in
City HallRegional government
It is the only English region with a directly elected mayor with wide ranging devolved powers and an elected regional assembly which together comprise the
Greater London Authority (the "GLA"). The current
Mayor of London is
Ken Livingstone. He is scrutinised by an elected
London Assembly, which may amend his annual budget (by two-thirds majority) but otherwise lacks the power to block his directives. The headquarters of the GLA is at
City Hall in
Southwark. The Mayor is responsible for London's strategic planning and is required to produce a
London Plan document.
Local government
Greater London is divided into 32 London boroughs, each governed by a London borough council; and the City of London, which has a unique government dating back to the
12th century. They are often considered as
unitary authorities but not named as such. All London borough councils belong to the
London Councils association. Two London boroughs,
Kensington and Chelsea, and
Kingston, carry the purely honorific title of
Royal borough.
London Assembly
For elections to the London Assembly, London is divided into fourteen constituencies. The constituencies are formed from the area of two or three boroughs combined. The City of London forms part of the
City and East constituency.
UK Parliament
London is divided into 74 Parliamentary constituencies, which are all small
borough constituencies. They are formed from the combined area of several
wards from one or more London Boroughs. Typically a single borough is covered by two or three constituencies. Their number will be reduced to 73 before the next general election.
History
Creation
Arms of Greater London Council
Although the
London County Council had been created as a London-wide authority covering the
County of London in 1889, the County did not even cover all the built-up area of London then, particularly
West Ham and
East Ham; furthermore many of the LCC housing projects, including the vast
Becontree Estate, were constructed outside its formal boundaries.
[3]
London County Council pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the
First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan and City Police Districts there were 122 housing authorities. A
Royal Commission was set up to consider the issue.
[4] [5] London County Council proposed a vast new Greater London, somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the entire
Home Counties.
[6] Protests were made at the possibility of including
Windsor,
Slough and
Eton in the authority.
[7]
The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCC's scheme. Two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a Central Authority for strategic functions. The
London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission.
[8]
Greater London was formally created by the
London Government Act 1963, which took force on
1 April 1965, replacing the former
administrative counties of
Middlesex and
London, adding the
City of London, which was not under the London County Council, and absorbing parts of
Kent,
Surrey,
Essex and
Hertfordshire. The term 'Greater London' had been used well before 1965, particularly to refer to the area covered by the
Metropolitan Police District or the
London Passenger Transport Area and by 1958 an area somewhat larger than the current region had been defined by the
Registrar General as the ''Greater London Conurbation''.
Greater London Council
Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the
Greater London Council (GLC) sharing power with the
Corporation of London (governing the small City of London) and the 32 London borough councils. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 by the
Local Government Act 1985. Its functions were devolved to the Corporation and the London boroughs with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards.
Greater London Authority
Greater London was used to form the London
region of England in 1994. A
referendum held in 1998, established public will to create a regional authority. The
Greater London Authority,
London Assembly and the directly-elected
Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the
Greater London Authority Act 1999. The
2000 and
2004 mayoral elections were both won by
Ken Livingstone, who had been the final leader of the GLC. In 2000 the outer boundary of the
Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary.
Statistics
Population
Population of Greater London
The population on the current territory of Greater London rose from about 1.1 million in 1801 (back then only about 0.85 million people were in the urban area of London, while 0.25 million were living in villages and towns not yet part of London) to an estimated 8.6 million in 1939, but declined to 6.7 million in 1988, before starting to rebound in the end of the 1980s. As of 2006, the population in Greater London has only recovered the level of 1970 (which was also the level of population in the 1920s). Some researchers expect the population of Greater London to reach 8.15 million by 2016, which would still be 0.45 million short of the 1939 peak.
Figures here are for Greater London in its 2001 limits. Figures before 1971 have been reconstructed by the Office for National Statistics based on past censuses in order to fit the 2001 limits. Figures from 1981 onward are midyear estimates (revised as of August 2007), which are more accurate than the censuses themselves, known to underestimate the population of London.
| 1891 | April 5/6 | 5,572,012 |
| 1901 | March 31/April 1 | 6,506,954 |
| 1911 | April 2/3 | 7,160,525 |
| 1921 | June 19/20 | 7,386,848 |
| 1931 | April 26/27 | 8,110,480 |
| 1939 | Midyear estimate | 8,615,245 |
| 1951 | April 8/9 | 8,196,978 |
| 1961 | April 23/24 | 7,992,616 |
| ''1965'' | ''Greater London formally created'' |
| 1971 | April 25/26 | 7,452,520 |
| 1981 | Midyear estimate | 6,805,000[9] |
| 1988 | Midyear estimate | 6,729,300[10] |
| 1991 | Midyear estimate | 6,829,300[11] |
| 2001 | Midyear estimate | 7,322,400[12] |
| 2002 | Midyear estimate | 7,361,600[13] |
| 2003 | Midyear estimate | 7,364,100[14] |
| 2004 | Midyear estimate | 7,389,100[15] |
| 2005 | Midyear estimate | 7,456,100[16] |
| 2006 | Midyear estimate | 7,512,400 |
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Inner London at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added[17] | Agriculture[18] | Industry[19] | Services[20] |
|---|
| 1995 | '64,616' | 7 | 8,147 | 56,461 |
| 2000 | '92,330' | 6 | 10,094 | 82,229 |
| 2003 | '112,090' | 12 | 10,154 | 101,924 |
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Outer London at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added17 | Agriculture18 | Industry19 | Services20 |
|---|
| 1995 | '44,160' | 51 | 10,801 | 33,307 |
| 2000 | '60,304' | 43 | 12,529 | 47,732 |
| 2003 | '67,582' | 39 | 13,081 | 54,462 |
Area
The area of Greater London has not changed significantly since its creation. There have been a
considerable number of small boundary changes. The most significant of these were the 1969 transfers of
Knockholt to Kent and
Farleigh to Surrey
[21] and a series of minor adjustments during the 1990s which realigned the boundary to the
M25 motorway in some places.
Education
The education system has been split into the thirty three separate
LEAs, which correspond to the City of London and the 32 London boroughs, since the 1990 enactment of the
Education Reform Act 1988.
[Tomlinson, S., ''Education in a post-welfare society'', (2001)] From 1965 to 1990, twelve Inner London boroughs and the City of London had been served by an
Inner London Education Authority.
[ The introduction of comprehensive schools, directed by Circular 10/65 in 1965, was mostly followed in Greater London, however 19 grammar schools have been retained in some Outer London boroughs.[22] At GCSE and A level, Outer London boroughs have broadly better results than Inner London boroughs.[23]]
Wider population
Greater London is not exactly coterminous with London's built up area and a somewhat wider Greater London Urban Area has been defined and is used for mainly statistical purposes. London's wider metropolitan area is known as the London commuter belt.
See also
★ Greater London Urban Area
References
1. Westminster City Council - One City - An Introduction
2. HMSO, ''Lieutenancies Act 1997'', (1997)
3. Saint, A., ''Politics and the people of London: the London County Council (1889-1965)'', (1989)
4. ''London Local Government.'' The Times. April 18, 1921.
5. ''Complex London: Big Task For Inquiry Commission''. The Times. August 5, 1921.
6. ''Greater London: Case for Central Authority: Area and Powers''. The Times. December 14, 1921.
7. ''Windsor and Greater London : Protests Against Proposals''. The Times. December 27, 1921
8. ''Greater London: Report of Royal Commission''. The Times. March 22, 1923.
9. T 08: Quinary age group and sex for local authorities in England and Wales; estimated resident population based on the 1991 Census; Mid-1981 Population Estimates.
10. T 08h: Mid-1988 Population Estimates; Quinary age groups and sex for local authorities in England and Wales; estimated resident population revised in light of results of the 2001 Census
11. T 09a: Mid-1991 Population Estimates; Quinary age groups and sex for local authorities in the United Kingdom; estimated resident population
12. T 08: Selected age groups for local authorities in the United Kingdom; estimated resident population; revised in light of the local authority population studies; Mid-2001 Population Estimates
13. T 09L: Quinary age groups and sex for local authorities in the United Kingdom; estimated resident population Mid-2002 Population Estimates; reflecting the revisions due to improved international migration
14. T 09m: Quinary age groups and sex for local authorities in the United Kingdom; estimated resident population Mid-2003 Population Estimates; reflecting the revisions due to improved international migration
15. T 09n: Quinary age groups and sex for local authorities in the United Kingdom; estimated resident population Mid-2004 Population Estimates; reflecting the revisions due to improved international migration
16. T 09p: Quinary age groups and sex for local authorities in the United Kingdom; estimated resident population Mid-2005 Population Estimates; reflecting the revisions due to improved international migration
17. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
18. includes hunting and forestry
19. includes energy and construction
20. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured Hi
21. The Greater London, Kent and Surrey Order, 1968
22. BBC News - What future for grammar schools?. 15 February 2003.
23. OFSTED, ''Improvements in London schools 2000–06'', (2006)
External links
★ Greater London Authority
★ Greater London Online - London Community News, Information and Business Directory
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