ABSTRACT
In exploring the relationship between strategic planning and governance in London over the last 20 years, two issues stand out. The first is the lack of any regional level of government. Here, region means the travel-to-work catchment area of the city – the south-east region – which covers an area within a 60-mile radius from the centre of the city and had in 2000 a population of 18.1 million people. The second issue has been the instability in the government of the metropolitan core, that is, the built-up area of the city within the green belt – usually referred to as Greater London – which contains 7.4 million people. This vacuum or uncertainty in governance at a strategic scale has led to the national government taking a dominant role in strategic planning for London. However, with the establishment of the Greater London Authority for the metropolitan area in 2000 a new era has begun. It might be hypothesised that this has brought about a shift in governmental control over planning from the nation-state to the metropolitan level. We will explore these themes in more detail.
