Metropolitan Green Belt

The Metropolitan Green Belt is a special area of open land that surrounds London, England. It helps to keep the city from growing too big and gives people places to enjoy nature close to home. The Green Belt includes parts of several places such as Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, and Surrey, as well as small parts of Bedfordshire and Sussex.

As of 2017/18, the Green Belt covered a very large area—about 513,860 hectares or 1,269,800 acres. This planning rule was created to protect these lands from being built on, so they can remain as parks, farms, and natural spaces for everyone to use and enjoy. The Green Belt is an important part of managing how cities grow and keeping green spaces available for people to relax and play.

History

Long ago, after 1580, Elizabeth I of England tried to stop new buildings in a wide area around the City of London to help stop diseases. Later, ideas from places like Vienna inspired people to create green spaces around cities.

In the early 1900s, groups like the London Society and the Campaign to Protect Rural England suggested making a green belt around London to stop the city from spreading out too much. This idea grew stronger after World War II when many new homes were needed. In 1947, important laws were made to officially create the Metropolitan Green Belt. Over time, it grew to include parts of many areas around London, helping to keep space for nature and recreation while guiding where new towns and homes could be built.

Extension and reduction

See also: Population of the United Kingdom, Conservation in the United Kingdom, Thames Basin Heaths, urban forest, Roads in England, and urban sprawl

After 1955, London's green belt grew to reach up to 35 miles away from the city. It changes a little each year and is now about three times bigger than London itself.

The green belt now includes many beautiful places like the Surrey Hills, Chiltern Hills, and parts of the Wealds, including Epping Forest. Sometimes land is taken out of the green belt for things like roads, houses, or parks, but mostly it stays protected for open spaces, farming, and activities like golfing or sailing.

Local authorities can sometimes allow small parts of the green belt to be used for other purposes if there are very special reasons. Also, since 1976, special open areas inside Greater London called Metropolitan Open Land have received the same protection as the green belt.

Debate and controversy

The London Society sparked more discussion about London's green belt with its report called "Green Sprawl" in 2014. Other groups, like the Planning Officers Society, asked the UK Government to review plans and find ways to balance building new homes with protecting nature and reducing pollution.

The Adam Smith Institute wrote a paper supporting more building, saying there was enough space near train stations to build many new homes. However, the Royal Town Planning Institute studied how people travel and found that most people living near stations did not use trains to get to London. They worried that building more homes would lead to more cars on the roads. The CPRE also said that green belts do not cause high house prices, as other factors like investment play a bigger role.

In 2016, a survey by Ipsos Mori showed that many Londoners felt that buildings were getting too tall. Over 400 very tall buildings were planned, and many people wanted limits on how tall new buildings could be.

Designated area

The table shows the areas that were part of the Metropolitan Green Belt in 2014. From 2009 to 2014, the area shrank by 435 hectares (1,070 acres). By 2014, Greenwich, the only Inner London borough that once had Green Belt land, no longer had any.

Many places around London have Green Belt land. This includes every borough in Surrey and Hertfordshire, all of Bedfordshire, parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Essex, Kent, London, and one area in Sussex.

Notes and references