Challenges and Opportunities (Edexcel GCSE Geography: B (1GB0))

• London has experienced periods of decline and growth

Deindustrialisation

• Between 1960 -1980 there was a rapid decrease in industry in London
• Containerisation led to larger ships which could not be accommodated in the London Docks
• The last docks closed in 1981
• Manufacturing across London relied on the goods coming in through the docks
  • The closure of the docks led to decline in manufacturing in areas like Lea Valley, Tottenham and Stratford
• Between 1966-74 almost 400,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in London
• In 1971 one million people were employed in manufacturing by 2004 it was only 245,000
• The unemployment rate in 1981 was almost 18%

• Over 60% of the Docklands area was derelict or vacant in 1981

Depopulation

• The population of the Docklands area fell by 20% as people moved away to seek work
• London's population in 1961 was 8 million
• By 1991 it had fallen to 6.8 million

Decentralisation and suburbanisation

• People were able to move to the suburbs of London due to:
  • Improvements in transport - underground network completed by 1930
  • Increased bus network
  • Increased car ownership
• People were attracted by: 
  • Nicer environment
  • Less pollution
  • Less traffic and congestion
  • Larger homes with gardens
  • More space
• Businesses, retail and industry followed leading to increased decentralisation
• Examples of decentralisation from London include:
  • Shopping centres such as Bluewater, Dartford and Centrale, Croydon
  • Retail parks such as Cork Tree, Tottenham and Grove Farm, Ilford
  • Business parks such as Uxbridge Business Park and Riverwalk Business Park in Enfield
• The businesses are attracted by:
  • More space
  • Cheaper rents
  • Nicer environment
  • Customers and workers living nearby in suburbs
  • Greater accessibility 
  • More parking space

E-commerce

• There has been an increase in online shopping, particularly since the Covid 19 pandemic
• This has led more businesses to locate outside the city as they do not need to be located near to customers 

• London has experienced growth in recent years
• The population has increased to 8.8 million in 2021
• The growth is not even, most has occurred on the west and east edges

Population change across London 2011-2021

• This has led to urban sprawl
• Growth has been limited by the green belt 
• This has led to growth outside the green belt of towns such as Reading and Maidstone

Re-urbanisation

• The movement of people back to the urban areas
• There are a number of reasons for this in London:
  • Clearance of industrial areas has created space for new developments on brownfield sites
  • Gentrification means that high earners now want to live in the city to be close to work, culture and leisure
  • Investment by TNCs has created jobs in their headquarters such as HSBC and Unilever, many TNCs have their European headquarters in London such as Bloomberg and Starbucks
  • Culture and leisure also attract people back to live in the city:
    • The 2012 Olympic Games
    • Large numbers of museums and galleries
    • West End for theatre
    • O2 Arena