Modern London - 21. Century

Timeline of events in London in the 21. Century

Greater London Authority Act

·         It established the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly and the Mayor of London

2000

·         London Eye, Millennium Dome and Millennium Bridge were opened to public

o   They were built to mark the new century

·         Ken Livingstone

o   He was elected as the first mayor of London

o   He introduced the London congestion charge

2001

·         Worldwide economic recession

o   High Tech boom

o   High interest rates

o   New business registration was the lowest in the last 20 years

o   15% decline in profits due to slowdown in manufacturing orders and drop-off in business investment

2004

·         London Plan was published

o   A long term plan

o   More prosperous city with strong and diverse economic growth

o   Social inclusion, tackling deprivation and discrimination

2005

·         London Bombings on July 7

o   One day after London was elected for the Olympic Games in 2012

o   52 people died and 700 got injured

o   Suicide attacks  targeted civilians using the public transport system

·         Preparations for the Olympics started

2008

·         Boris Johnson was elected as a new mayor

o   He received with over 1 million votes the largest personal mandate of any politician in British history

o   He promotes economic development, improvement of the environment and London’s safety

2009

·         Economic recession

o   Unemployment rate jumped to 6.5% from Nov 2008 to Jan 2009

o   London’s stock market lost 31% (worst loss in 24 years)

o   Housing bubble

2011

·         Riots

o   Erupted in London’s Afro-Caribbean neighborhood of Tottenham

o   Against government’s decision to cut welfare programs

·         Bank bashing

o   Protests against the global financial system

o    4,000 students, academics, anarchists took part

o   Highlighting social and economic injustice

  Area: 1,572 km² (City)

  Population: 7,825,000

  Density: 4,978/km²

ECONOMY OF LONDON

Generates 20 % of the UK’s GDP

Media-capital → many pressrooms, many national newspapers are edited in London

Major retail-centre

Second-largest port in the United Kingdom → handling 45 tonnes of cargo every year

Leading metropolis of New Media → very innovative and successful IT-companies

Hightech-Companies: Pharmacy & Electronic

THE FINANCIAL CENTRE LONDON

•  One of the three largest financial centres in the world
•  Many traditional finance-institutions (Bank of England, Barclays, etc.)

ENVIRONMENTAL OF THE UK (LONDON)     

• National climate-law  → reducing of greenhouse-gases about 34 % to 2020 and 80   % to 2050 
• Improvement of the proportion of renewable energies from 2 % to 15 % to 2020´

TOURISM IN LONDON

•   Prime industry   → employs 350,000 workers

•   Expenditure by tourists: ~ 15 billion
•   14 million international visitors per year

TOP TEN

MOST-VISITED ATTRACTIONS

1.       British Museum

2.       National Gallery

3.       Tate Modern

4.       Natural History Museum

5.       London Eye

6.       Science Museum

7.       Tower of London

8.       National Maritime Museum

9.       Victoria and Albert Museum

10.  Madame Tussauds

MOST INTERESTING ART EXHIBITIONS THIS AUTUMN

• Gerhard Richter “Panorama” Tate Modern
• Leonardo da Vinci “Painter at the Court of Milan” National Gallery

THE „LONDON PLAN“

The LONDON PLAN is a development strategy for London. It is produced and kept under review by the Mayor of London; the Greater Authority publishes it.

The LONDON PLAN was first published in 2004 and has been modified since then several times. It includes six objectives of London’s Mayor, concerning different policy areas. All policies in the plan promote sustainable development.

Objective 1: To accommodate London’s growth within its boundaries without encroaching on open spaces

• Sustainable and efficient use of space
• East London: priority area for new development, regeneration and investment
• Improvement of suburban areas: better access and more co-ordinated services
• Protection of the green belt and other open spaces

Objective 2: To make London a better city for people to live in

• Improvement of quality of life and environment: better designed buildings and open spaces
• New and affordable housing
• Improvement of public safety
• Create a cleaner and healthier environment in all parts of London
• Availability of quality local services for education and health
• Balance racial and cultural differences in order to create a diverse yet homogeneous population

Objective 3: To make London a more prosperous city with strong and diverse economic growth

• Maintain a good infrastructure for London’s financial and business services sector
• Attract industries and tourism, collaborate with other metropolises
• Supply adequate ground area to accomodate economic growth
• Support small and ethnic minority businesses and strenghten local companies
• Support green and creative businesses, information technoloy and research
• Provide training and transport accessibility to give Londoners an equitable chance in job competition.

Objective 4: To promote social inclusion and tackle deprivation and discrimination

• Support women, young people and ethnic minorities through training and advice à give them access to high quality jobs
• Decrease homelessness
• Decrease discrimination, benefit London’s diversity for cultural and economic strenghts
• Improve learning, health and safety services in local communities

Objective 5: To improve London’s accessibility

• Expand London’s public transport
• Improve international, national and regional access to London
• Provide alternatives to car use, enhance facilities for pedestrians and cyclists
•  Sustainable movement of freight in and aroung London

Objective 6: To make London a more attractive, well-designed and green city

• Achieve a better environmental sustainability of a growing London
• Advancements in the use of energy, the waste disposal, the air quality and the biodiversity
• Ensure that London’s growth does not increase global warming
• Make an effective use of resources àland, water, energy and construction materials
• Protect London’s historic townscape and create new resources

2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS

Opening ceremony: 27th July 2012

Closing ceremony: 12th August 2012

• Development and preparation: redevelopment of many of the areas of London
• Responsibles: The London Committee for the Olympic Games
• Public transport and infrastructure have been improved for the Olympics
• New, existing and historic venues will be used
• Most of the venues have been devided into three zones within Greater London: Olympic Zone, River Zone and Central Zone.

1. Olympic Zone: Olympics stadium, Basketball arena ; London Velopark ...
2. River Zone: O2-Arena (gymnastics and basketball) ; Greenwich Park ...
3. Central Zone: Wimbledon ; Hyde Park (triathlon) ...

 LONDON FASHION WEEK

• Takes place twice a year: in February and September (1. LWF: 1984)
• Organisation: British Fashion Council
• Support: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
• Official sponsorship: Mercedes Benz
• Venue: Somerset House
• The London Fashion Week attracts designers, models, photographers and editors from all over the world
• It is one of the „Big Four“ fashion weeks (New York, Milan, London and Paris)