Summary: London landscape and open space planning

Quicklinks: 1829, 1900, 1929, 1943, 1951, 1969, 1976, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2000, 2004, London landscape architecture, and also: London Landscape Architecture Visitors Guide and UK Landscape Institute

London has had great opportunities in planning its open spaces:

1. It is a capital city with a favourable climate, a great river and many undulations.
2. Kings, governments and people have agreed about the importance of open space for centuries. The Kings provided royal parks and the people paid for public parks.
3. Britain has a long democratic tradition and has been without the need for dense fortified cities longer than any other European country.
4. City-wide open space planning has been under active consideration for over two centuries.
5. A great series of open space plans was prepared for London during the twentieth century (see above links).

The obstacles to landscape planning in London have been:

1. A political tradition which has resisted government interference with the rights of landowners and questioned 'tax and spend' policies.
2. A reluctance, especially during the twentieth century, to devolve power from central government to municipalities or to park users and managers
3. A strong town planning profession (after 1947) which has lacked any kind of expertise in open space planning.
4. A weak landscape architecture profession, which led by a Landscape Institute which failed to take a lead in 20th century open space planning.

Recommendations re London landscape planning :

1. Good landscape planning is an essential pre-requisite for good landscape design.
2. The old emphasis on parks must be supplemented by a new emphasis on multipurpose greenways.
3. Specialist expertise is necessary. The Open Space Strategies required by the 2004 London Plan should be prepared by qualified landscape architects and planners, not by people who only have qualifications in architecture, surveying, engineering or town planning.
4. Landscape planning should be democratized. It requires the continuous involvement of open space users. The subsidiarity principle requires local budgetary control. Consultation with a 'Friends of the Park' group is not enough.

See Also