London Essay
With reference to one property development site within the City of London, critically appraise the extent to which that development delivers successful modern property development whilst at the same time respecting the historic sense of identity of the City of London as identified by Glinert.
The City of London sometimes referred to as ‘the square mile’ denotes the area within the original old walled city built by the Romans in about AD50.1 One can still see evidence of roman heritage by visiting the London wall, built in around 200AD or the only roman built amphitheatre, which is located under the Guildhall art gallery. 2 Today the City of London is considered one of the leading international business and financial centres of the world.3 It has grown substantially over the years, most notably throughout the 18th century and ‘has now evolved from a small, inward-looking place with strong boundaries into a more amorphous beast’4. The population fell rapidly during the 19th and 20th century’s when residential housing was demolished in favour of new office buildings. It is now the case that there are 33% more workers than residents in the area. Having suffered heavy damage during World War II very few of the original structures remain. It is important to mention that St Paul’s cathedral did remain standing and there are many well-published photographs of St Paul’s surrounded by buildings which were on fire or completely destroyed, most notably ‘St Paul’s Survives’ taken by Herbert Mason.
Despite the destruction caused by the war it did allow for mass rebuilding of larger scale and more modern developments. It is not too difficult to spot the difference between pre and post war developments, predominantly because pre war buildings are often much smaller. Many people suggest that Paternoster Square outside St Paul’s is an example of how the post war trends might have now been reversed. This view is largely due to the ‘traffic free, public open space’ and
The City of London sometimes referred to as ‘the square mile’ denotes the area within the original old walled city built by the Romans in about AD50.1 One can still see evidence of roman heritage by visiting the London wall, built in around 200AD or the only roman built amphitheatre, which is located under the Guildhall art gallery. 2 Today the City of London is considered one of the leading international business and financial centres of the world.3 It has grown substantially over the years, most notably throughout the 18th century and ‘has now evolved from a small, inward-looking place with strong boundaries into a more amorphous beast’4. The population fell rapidly during the 19th and 20th century’s when residential housing was demolished in favour of new office buildings. It is now the case that there are 33% more workers than residents in the area. Having suffered heavy damage during World War II very few of the original structures remain. It is important to mention that St Paul’s cathedral did remain standing and there are many well-published photographs of St Paul’s surrounded by buildings which were on fire or completely destroyed, most notably ‘St Paul’s Survives’ taken by Herbert Mason.
Despite the destruction caused by the war it did allow for mass rebuilding of larger scale and more modern developments. It is not too difficult to spot the difference between pre and post war developments, predominantly because pre war buildings are often much smaller. Many people suggest that Paternoster Square outside St Paul’s is an example of how the post war trends might have now been reversed. This view is largely due to the ‘traffic free, public open space’ and