Delight.The first 'bubble diagram' of London appeared, astonishingly a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. enough, in 1943 in the middle of the Second World War. Produced and drawn by Arthur Ling and D.K. Johnson, it was one of a comprehensive set of maps, diagrams and graphs which formed part of the County of London Plan The County of London Plan was prepared for the London County Council by J. H. Forshaw and Patrick Abercrombie in 1943. Its main purpose was to point out the main directions of development and reconstruction of London, which in the past decades had faced big changes and . This was the responsibility of the pioneering figure Patrick Abercrombie This article is about the town planner. For the similarly-named Scottish physician, see Patrick Abercromby. Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (b. 6 June 1879 in Ashton upon Mersey — d. 23 March 1957 in Aston Tirrold, Berkshire) was an English town planner. , who spent the war thinking about the peace which would ensue, and how London should plan for it. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Plan, published in book form (priced at 12 shillings and sixpence six·pence n. 1. A coin formerly used in Britain and worth six pennies. 2. The sum of six pennies. sixpence Noun ), was a triumph of synthetic thinking, allied to clear statements of aspiration, and an admirable use of English, admittedly that of the administrative class, but devoid of jargon and cliche. The diagram shown here is itself a brilliant synthesis, a social and functional analysis of a world city which manages to pay attention to detail (the location of each borough town hall), as well as providing snapshot information on waterways and reservoirs, industrial wharves Structures erected on the margin of Navigable Waters where vessels can stop to load and unload cargo. Cities located on lakes, rivers, and oceans usually have at least one wharf, where ships can deliver and pick up passengers and load and unload various types of goods. , railways, shopping centres, open spaces, and (shades of things to come) 'central communities with a high proportion of obsolescent ob·so·les·cent adj. 1. Being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete. 2. Biology Gradually disappearing; imperfectly or only slightly developed. property'. London's image as a city of villages partly stems from this diagram, which was used to face the start of the chapter in the Plan dealing with 'Social groupings and major use zones'. The faintly psychedelic image, with its overlapping boundaries, is a reminder of what the Plan noted: London had 'a highly organised and interrelated in·ter·re·late tr. & intr.v. in·ter·re·lat·ed, in·ter·re·lat·ing, in·ter·re·lates To place in or come into mutual relationship. in system of communities as one of its main characteristics ... perhaps more peculiar to London than any other capital city in the world, for the generally low density of its two- or three-storey development, combined with its extensive area, has created a need for numerous subsidiary civic and commercial centres ... Recognition of the existing community structure of London must be implicit in any main reconstruction proposals; to ignore London as it exists and treat it as one vast area for experiment would lead to incalculable and unnecessary disturbance to people's lives and, moreover, would be the least economical method of procedure.' Politicians ignored this advice for the next half century. |
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