ABSTRACT

Previous chapters have shown the many dimensions of London’s crisis. However, not least of London’s problems is the crisis of ideas on how to move forward. It is widely accepted that pragmatism, muddle and the market are not up to the job. The received wisdom of the moment is that London needs a vision. For example in 1991-2 a consortium of voluntary groups has been organizing a Vision for London festival. Meanwhile Local Authorities in London, through the vehicle of the London Planning Advisory Committee (LPAC), have also been exploring ways of progressing a London-wide perspective in the wake of the abolition of the GLC. This crystallized in LPAC’s Strategic Planning Advice for London: Policies for the 1990s (1988) and its co-sponsorship of the World Cities Project (Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte 1991). The Labour Party also produced its document London: A World Class Capital in 1991. As we shall see the debate has been taken up by the private sector. This widespread interest immediately raises the question: whose vision?