ABSTRACT
In the inter-war years interest in creating new public green space was generated by the perceived lack of amenities due to continuous urban development and consequent loss of private green space. By the 1920s the built-up area of the city extended over most of the County of London apart from some areas in the south-east, notably Greenwich, Lewisham and Woolwich. The acquisition policies of London’s municipal authorities remained pragmatic throughout the inter-war period with almost no coherent planning, because their legal powers to provide new green space were very limited. They succeeded in creating substantial areas – over 1,000 acres – of new green space. In fact, the provision of new green space remained an important expression of civic pride everywhere in the UK. Private associations such as the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association played an important part in creating new public green space in the 1920s. Throughout the inter-war period, the association suggested suitable acquisitions to the municipal authorities.
