ABSTRACT
The Second World War temporarily transformed the built environment of many cities in Europe as well as in the UK, where London was the most damaged. Jerry White called the war the ‘great moderniser of London’. War-damage, including almost 50,000 destroyed homes compared to 5,500 in Liverpool and just over 5,000 in Birmingham, varied hugely across the city. In general, eastern and southern boroughs bore the brunt of the bombings. Planning for the reconstruction of the blitzed cities began during the war. The coalition government followed the energetic advocate of London, Herbert Morrison, in recognising that post-war planning was a way to enhance public morale with the promise of a better future. As Gordon E. Cherry points out, ‘the notion of radical urban reconstruction was “in the air”’. The election of a Labour government in 1945 had a profound impact on the creation of the new welfare state in the UK.
