ABSTRACT
Peter Hall has been interested in London for half a century. His first book: The Industries of London, published in 1962, a traditional history of manufacturing industry in London, was based on his PhD thesis. Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London, published in 2002, 40 years on reports on a very different London in terms of both industrial and class structure. When Peter wrote The Industries of London, manufacturing industry accounted for almost a third of total employment while finance and business services accounted for only 10 per cent. By 2001, the shares had been completely reversed. Manufacturing industry had shrunk dramatically in importance while finance and business services had become the largest sector of employment in London. This transformation from an industrial to a post-industrial city (at least in the sense of manufacturing industry) has had a number of profound implications not just for employment, but for occupational structure, income and the housing market and the social geography of the city. The Victorian ‘manufacturing belt’ surrounding the City of London that Peter wrote about in 1962 has almost completely disappeared. Those old factories which have not disappeared have been converted into fashionable offices or loft apartments. Hoxton, Shoreditch and Clerkenwell have become the most exciting areas of London for the 20 and 30 something creatives.
