London Needs Cutting Down To Size
The simple truth is that if the UK allows it Capital City to keep expanding it will spend a fortune on just moving people around. Money that could be spent elsewhere. And boy is it expanding!! London has currently 8 million people living in it. There are more Londoners than Scottish people (5.3 million) and Welsh people (3.0 million) put together. Having said that London's population hasn't always been on the increase. World War Two saw it fall drastically and it kept falling till 1979. Of course in the year the Conservatives took power and with their empathise on the financial sector started the population rising again. It's currently estimated to 13 million by 2050.
Most of the rest of the UK has no big populations centres that even compares to London. And as the picture shows there populations can fit into London with plenty to spare for others:
So why are all these people there? Well if you look at the statistics of what they do for a living you find a disparage between types of workers, compared with the rest of the country. London workers fall way behind on manufacturing and agricultural jobs. Surprisingly there's less secretarial workers in London. And less manual workers and skilled workers there. But you probably know who are there in greater numbers. Banking and money people 26.2% on 2018 figures. Much higher than the 17% of the rest of the UK. The boss and management are also there in higher numbers too. A lot of professionals and technicians are there too. This is probably not as surprising as it's likely than professional based organisations such as The Royal College of Surgeons or other research bodies have been based here in the past. Indeed many such places and bodies were founded in London. They simply have not needed to locate elsewhere, in fact they have all their needs met by the Local Authorities in London and of course Central Government. However Governments have tried to move certain parts of the structures out of the London area. Some commercial bodies too. But many of these were due to pressure being applied by areas outside London to relinquish control to them, rather than Central Government having the money and power. The most recent being the Scottish and Welsh democracy movements. In general most decentralisation schemes have hit snags and due to the fact that places, that have received these schemes, are operating with the unfair disadvantages that they always have under the present system.
Despite what seems to be lots of new developments in London, construction type jobs are slightly below the level of those in the rest of the country. But only just. London's total workforce stands a 6 million up from 4 million in 2005. Yet the UK's workforce only rose by 4 million in the same period. Which means that London jobs accounted for half the jobs created between 2005 and 2019.
Of course to get them to and from work requires a transport system that simply is not coping with the demand and has required massive investment already.
However in a Transport for London document Transport Supporting Paper 3 it highlights the need for more transport and gives a very strange conclusion
Dense cities and public transport also support more sustainable growth.
It also further argues:
Dense cities and public transport also support more sustainable growth.
It also further argues:
Some
people argue that London’s growth should not be encouraged. Given
the pressures, this is understandable but unrealistic. Our city’s
growth matters – both for London and the UK as a whole.
Of course the systems already in place make alternatives doom to fail. But if the Way To Live practice was in place, the economy would actual benefit. For example not needing to transport people to places would cut the transport bill vastly. It does away with congestion charges and all the associated costs of making roads. Even if companies decided to move away wanting to use London as base, but were not allowed to. They would find that any city still employing the old system, would have greater costs and they would see ongoing costs laid at their feet as these places have to find ways of dealing with costs such as pollution.
But the document shows what might be required to keep the City of London a world leader.
The overall scale of transport investment set out in this document (around £200 billion)
The overall scale of transport investment set out in this document (around £200 billion)
Much of this however would need to be car based. Since the road system isn't working.
An efficient road network is key to supporting employment and economic vitality more widely across London.
parts of the A12 catering for more than 100,000 vehicles a day and the North Circular exceeding 120,000. Overall, the road network carries 80 per cent of people’s journeys and 90 per cent of freight. Already each day in London it caters for around 10 million car trips, more than 4 million bus trips
parts of the A12 catering for more than 100,000 vehicles a day and the North Circular exceeding 120,000. Overall, the road network carries 80 per cent of people’s journeys and 90 per cent of freight. Already each day in London it caters for around 10 million car trips, more than 4 million bus trips
With such problems the report also mentions what a lot of people do too!
more than 6 million walking trips
Meanwhile as traffic will continue to rise the actual income from tax measures will actually fall.
Duty and VAT on fuel currently raise about £32bn annually
Vehicle Excise Duty which raises £6bn annually, is declining as people buy more fuel efficient, cleaner cars
So, despite a projected growth in traffic nationally, revenue from motoring taxation is set to drop by £13bn a year, or 35 per cent, by 2029
Meanwhile as traffic will continue to rise the actual income from tax measures will actually fall.
Duty and VAT on fuel currently raise about £32bn annually
Vehicle Excise Duty which raises £6bn annually, is declining as people buy more fuel efficient, cleaner cars
So, despite a projected growth in traffic nationally, revenue from motoring taxation is set to drop by £13bn a year, or 35 per cent, by 2029
It's therefore no surprise that London has a massive transit system already in place. Accounting for 12.1% of Jobs and much greater than the rest of the UK. But moving people around is dangerous in many ways. All transport links have been targets for terrorist attacks.
Underground fires and crashes have taken place. Railway trains have collided with each other. And we have the latest threat of people spreading diseases just to the close proximity with each other.
The same report acknowledges that overcrowding will get worse.
By the early 2030s we estimate that there will be a 25 per cent increase in the volume of Underground travel in crowded conditions, and a 65 per cent increase by 2050.
Even if the people above don't catch a germ that might wipe many of them out. Most will suffer from the stress of these conditions. Arguing with other commuters and trying to get a seat. Waiting for cancelled services, or getting to work late, which could mean a loss of the job. And the boring nature of this form of travelling.
Tourism
Without doubt lots of people visit London for the historic places. And of course London would still be a place for people to come to see. Nevertheless the places are all in a area that is smaller compared with the whole of London. Since they were all constructed when London was much smaller. They really do not the City to expand in area or in numbers of the population to grow. In-fact they would be better served if most of the traffic vanished. The existing rail links are actually quiet adequate to move around tourist and any person connected with the trade. Monorail links could be incorporated to move people shorter distances.
Other Trade
To some extent some shopping streets would not need to be touched. And would benefit from being converted to being more suitable for people rather than the Taxi's and Buses. Do all the theatres need to be in the West End? Many places would benefit from having them in their area. However as long as they don't see the need for an army of people to keep them going and they can be easily incorporated into the Way To Live concept. They could stay where they are.
But much of the financial sector needs to vanish from the city. Along with other sectors removed from Central London. This will take much of the commuter traffic out of the picture and put an end to many of the suburbs of London.
Central Government
I have discussed this already in Way To Live. With each centre running itself having the Houses of Parliament running the UK would be silly. If the UK requires some elected figurehead then it can still use the Number 10 system for it. But it must be pointed out that the Prime Minster is really just the First Lord of The Treasury. And since the Treasury is just the way the country spends things, all such functions would be down to a more local level, so in a way it would be obsolete. In the end the P.M. Would simply be an elected King or Queen. And we have an un-elected Queen already.
Tourism
Without doubt lots of people visit London for the historic places. And of course London would still be a place for people to come to see. Nevertheless the places are all in a area that is smaller compared with the whole of London. Since they were all constructed when London was much smaller. They really do not the City to expand in area or in numbers of the population to grow. In-fact they would be better served if most of the traffic vanished. The existing rail links are actually quiet adequate to move around tourist and any person connected with the trade. Monorail links could be incorporated to move people shorter distances.
Other Trade
To some extent some shopping streets would not need to be touched. And would benefit from being converted to being more suitable for people rather than the Taxi's and Buses. Do all the theatres need to be in the West End? Many places would benefit from having them in their area. However as long as they don't see the need for an army of people to keep them going and they can be easily incorporated into the Way To Live concept. They could stay where they are.
But much of the financial sector needs to vanish from the city. Along with other sectors removed from Central London. This will take much of the commuter traffic out of the picture and put an end to many of the suburbs of London.
Central Government
I have discussed this already in Way To Live. With each centre running itself having the Houses of Parliament running the UK would be silly. If the UK requires some elected figurehead then it can still use the Number 10 system for it. But it must be pointed out that the Prime Minster is really just the First Lord of The Treasury. And since the Treasury is just the way the country spends things, all such functions would be down to a more local level, so in a way it would be obsolete. In the end the P.M. Would simply be an elected King or Queen. And we have an un-elected Queen already.
