London Flashcards
Is London a megacity?
-No, but nearly- roughly 9 million
Londons national importance
-Capital city
-30% of UK’S GDP
-most major British companies based here
-12.5% of UK’s Pop
Londons international importance
-status as a ‘world city’
-30 million tourists annually
-one of the two most important financial centres in the world
-headquarters of many large international companies eg Google
-greenest city globally (40% greenspace)
- attracts investment from abroad eg Shard, football teams, owned by foreign investors
London’s population age trend
- young people in 20s and 30s most common age group in london, as they can come for more job opportunities, higher pay and perception of exciting social life in London
What most common ethnic groups in London? (%)
-White UK- 45%
-White other- 15%
-South Asian-12%
-Black- 13%
-Mixed- 5%
-Other- 3%
What areas of London show cultural mix?
-Brick lane- most common language here is Bengali (people from Bangladesh) known as ‘curry capital’
- Brixton- lots of Caribbean influence eg wings and tings, brixton market, due to windrush generation
How many passengers does the London underground and buses have per week?
- 75million (25m buses, 50m underground)
Benefits of crossrail (new rail route across london)
- reduces journey times
- increases the number of rail passenger joined by 10%
- brings 1.5 million more people to within 45 min journey to central london
-improves integrated transport system in london
how much of london is green?
- 40% of city is green space - parks, woodlands, cemeteries and gardens etc
importance of having green space in cities?
- produce oxygen- helps reduce enhanced greenhouse affect by absorbing carbon dioxide. 8.1m trees in london- almost 1 per person
- reduce flood risk
-habitats for wildlife
-growing food - mental/ physical health benefits
urban greening strategies?
-small scale- not paving over gardens, feeding birds etc
-larger scale- connecting green spaces we already have to help species naturally migrate. London has ‘green grid’ to link open spaces
how many people live in poverty in london?
over 2 million
which boroughs have over 20% of people receiving benefits?
-newham and greenwich
Southall road signs sometimes translated to…
Punjabi
Economic opportunities
-londoners earn 23% more than UK average
-85% of jobs in tertiary sectors (providing service/skill)
- world finance centre
Social opportunities
-cultural mix-only 45% of pop are ‘white british’- provides diverse culture eg music, food and more
Environmental oppurtunities
-40% greenspace
-greenest city in the world
socioeconomic challenges
-unaffordable housing ( roughly 57% of income spent on rent on avg)
-lack of social housing ( over 200,000 on waiting lists)
environmental challenges
-Pollution (most of central London above EU limit of 40mg/m^3 for NO2)
-Waste ( roughly 25% of waste to landfill)
-housing (building on Greenfield sites)
-urban sprawl (displaces habitats)
Sustainable improvements to transport
-cycle superhighways
-Congestion zone charges (ULEZ)
-Santander cycles (Boris Bikes)
Sustainable transport in East Village
-every home less than 350m from a bus stop
-Kings Cross 7 mins away by train
-Electric charging points
sustainable housing in East Village
-Smart appliances require less energy- more efficient
-smart meters track and conserve energy
-light painted walls to conserve heat
-grey water (left over untreated water eg left over bath water) used for flushing toilets
Sustainable neighbourhood of East village
-25% of all apartments are affordable housing
-local shops- local multiplier effect
social opportunities created by regeneration in stratford (olympic park)
-jobs- 10,000 at Westfield
-sport facilities available for locals
-new school opened on grounds of park- Chobham academy covers all levels of education
- east village made from ex-athlete village
social challenges created by Olympic park
-many people in boroughs surrounding the park still live in poverty
-cheap, affordable housing for poorer people torn down to build site eg 450 Housing association flats
economic opportunities of Olympic park
-olympics brought over £9Bn in investment to east London, much of which went into transport
-Lloyds TSB estimated Olympics will generate £10Bn in extra income of UK enconomy
economic challenges of Olympics/ olympic park
-cost £8.7Bn of taxpayers money- 5Bn over budget
-Rent and property prices increased as a result of games
environmental opportunities of Olympics/Olympic park
-Stadiums built of at least 25% recyclable materials
-green spaces and wildlife habitats created eg- ponds woodlands and otter holts, 8300 trees planted
environmental challenges of Olympics/ olympic park
-Games produced 3.3 million tonnes of CO2
-many materials for stadiums and Olympic park imported from overseas
How many houses did east village provide
-2800
how many tourists have visited park since olympics
-6 million
what university based in Olympic park
UCL
Reasons newham needed regeneration
- highest levels of poverty in London
- High unemployment
- Deindustrialisation- lots of brownfield sites
