London Mayor Sadiq Khan proposed to radically weaken the restrictions on building density and thereby increase the volume of housing construction in the capital of Great Britain. Recently, the mayor's office published a draft of a new general plan for the metropolis - a document "weighing" 500 pages. The urban development program of London is calculated until 2019, but in the future it can cover the 2040s. At the same time, according to the estimates of the newspaper The Guardian, over the next decade in the British capital there will be as many (and even more) new apartments and single-family houses, as there are in the entire half-million Manchester. To do this, the pace of construction will have to be doubled.
The need for new housing construction is due to the growth of the population of the capital of Great Britain: in 2015, a historical maximum was reached (8.63 million). According to forecasts, the number of Londoners will increase annually by 70,000 people and in 2041 will reach 10.5 million. New Londoners will need new living and working spaces.
This means that about 65,000 new housing units will be added each year in the 13 outlying districts of the city. Most of the new buildings are expected in such counties as Newham, Tower Hamlets, Croydon, Barnet. At the same time, a third of the objects will be erected on small plots (such as gardens behind houses) or existing private and apartment buildings and shops will be expanded. Suitable plots will be selected jointly by urban planning authorities, housing cooperatives and developers. The document says that proposals that do not so "obviously maximize the density of housing" will be immediately swept aside.
At the same time, projects of new houses should not only be of high quality from the point of view of the architectural design, but also meet increased fire safety requirements. They should be constructed in such a way as to minimize the risk of fire spreading and to ensure the safe evacuation of people in the event of a fire.
Andrew Boff, a member of the London Assembly from the ruling Conservative Party, sees no benefit in the new program and says Sadiq Khan "has declared war on the outskirts." The plan will lead to peripheral areas of the capital becoming “overcrowded and more difficult to get there,” says Boff. "Abandoning reasonable limits will result in families being shoved into rabbit cages."
In contrast, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) supported the idea of building densities, especially in the sparsely populated "outer" suburbs in the face of the national housing crisis, which in the capital has reached its maximum severity. “Where public transport infrastructure has already been created or planned, we must build more new housing,” said RIBA President Ben Derbyshire and his team. Architects play a vital role in achieving this goal and providing the capital with new homes that are “well-designed” and able to “stand the test of time,” according to RIBA members. However, at the same time, architects are calling for more power in London in matters of housing to the administrations of counties and districts, as has happened in other parts of the country.
Note that the text of the general plan also pays attention to the Green Belt of London - Sadik Khan expressed his intention to ensure the safety of the "lungs of the capital". In addition, the authorities plan to plant more green plants in the city and double the number of bike parking lots. There will also be more free public toilets in London that are suitable for all users, including people with disabilities, the elderly, families with small children, as well as transsexuals and people with a "floating" gender. A special measure is envisaged to protect the health of children: it is proposed to create zones around schools where it will not be possible to open a fast food cafe or a shop selling food to go, so that students are “forced” to make do with healthy food. Public discussion of the general plan (anyone can leave a comment on the Internet or send a letter to the mayor) began last Friday and will continue until early March next year.
Recall that earlier this year, Sadik Khan announced his intention to build modular houses in the capital. By 2021, they promise to build the first 1059 apartments.
