The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended. The current version was published in February 2008. The latest proposed amendments to the London Plan were published in April 2009 with consultation starting in October 2009 and the replacement plan expected to be published in 2011.

Mandate

The plan replaced the previous strategic planning guidance for London issued by the Secretary of State and known as RPG3. It is a requirement of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that the document is produced and that it deals only with matters that are of strategic importance to Greater London. The Act also requires that the London Plan includes in its scope:

• the health of Londoners,
• equality of opportunity,
• contribution to sustainable development in the United Kingdom.

Objectives

The plan is a spatial development strategy for the Greater London area and has six objectives:

1. To accommodate London’s growth within its boundaries without encroaching on open spaces
2. To make London a better city for people to live in
3. To make London a more prosperous city with strong and diverse economic growth
4. To promote social inclusion and tackle deprivation and discrimination
5. To improve London’s accessibility
6. To make London a more attractive, well-designed and green city

Policies

Chapter	Title	Policy summary
1	Positioning London	Analysis of forces underpinning London's past and future place in the world
2	The broad development strategy	Strategic sustainable development policy
3	Thematic policies	Population growth, economic growth, transport, development
4	Crosscutting policies	Environment, quality of life, heritage, Blue Ribbon Network
5	The sub-regions	Development of Sub-Regional Development Frameworks
6	Delivering the vision	Delivery, performance indicators, monitoring

Opportunity areas

The plan identifies dozens of areas of opportunity, which are where the bulk of efforts will be concentrated, with an aim at reducing social deprivation and creating sustainable development The opportunity areas will be able to accommodate around 5,000 jobs each or about 2,500 homes, or a mixture of the two. The opportunity areas will mostly be town centres as opposed to suburban developments in the boroughs, although those are mentioned as important in terms of job growth and quality of life.

Sub regions

For the purposes of the plan, London is divided into five sub regions. The current regions were established in February 2008 as part of the Further Alterations to the London Plan. The sub regions radiate from the centre to combine inner and outer London boroughs. These sub-regions, each with its own Sub Regional Implementation Framework, are:

Sub region	London boroughs	Population	Jobs	Map
North East	Barking & Dagenham, City of London, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest	1.4 million	900,000	NE
North	Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Westminster	1.7 million	1.5 million	N
South East	Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark	1.3 million	500,000	SE
South West	Croydon, Kingston, Lambeth, Merton, Richmond, Sutton, Wandsworth	1.6 million	730,000	SW
West	Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington & Chelsea	1.6 million	900,000	W

From 2004 to 2008 the sub regions were initially the same as the Learning and Skills Council areas set up in 1999: Within this scheme there was a separate Central sub region. The London part of the Thames Gateway zone was entirely contained within the East London sub region. The 2004 to 2008 sub regions, which each had Sub-Regional Development Frameworks, were:

Sub region	London boroughs	Population (2001)
Central	Camden, Kensington & Chelsea, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, Westminster	1,525,000
East	Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, City of London, Greenwich, Lewisham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets	1,991,000
North	Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Waltham Forest	1,042,000
South	Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton	1,329,000
West	Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow	1,421,000

Separately defined is a Central Activities Zone which includes areas with a very high concentration of metropolitan activities.

Activity centres

All activity centres are categorised into two international centres, the West End and Knightsbridge; eleven metropolitan centres such as Bromley, Croydon, Sutton and Romford; 35 major centres such as Brixton, East Ham, Orpington and Woolwich; and 156 district centres such as Hornchurch, Penge, Stoke Newington and Welling. Over 1,200 smaller neighbourhood and local centres are also identified in the plan.

International centres (2)	West End, Knightsbridge
Metropolitan centres (11)	Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Harrow, Hounslow, Kingston, Ilford, Romford, Sutton, Uxbridge, Wood Green.
Major centres (35)	Angel, Barking, Bexleyheath, Brixton, Camden Town, Canary Wharf, Catford, Chiswick, Clapham Junction, Dalston, East Ham, Edgware, Eltham, Enfield Town, Fulham, Hammersmith, Kensington High Street, King's Road East, Kilburn, Lewisham, Nag's Head, Orpington, Peckham, Putney, Richmond, Queensway/Westbourne Grove, Southall, Stratford, Streatham, Tooting, Walthamstow, Wandsworth, Wembley, Wimbledon, Woolwich
District centres (156)
Neighbourhood and local centres (1,200)

Alterations

There have been a number of amendments to the London Plan which have been incorporated into the current version that was published in February 2008. Early alterations were made covering housing provision targets, waste and minerals. Further alterations to the plan covered climate change; London as a world city; The London Economy; Housing; Tackling social exclusion; Transport; London’s geography, the sub-regions and inter-regions; London’s suburbs; Liveability (including safety, security and open spaces); and the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The mayor gained new statutory powers following the Greater London Authority Act 2007. Following the change of mayor, a new review was initiated in July 2008.

Date	Document
February 2004	The London Plan
October 2005	Draft Alterations to the London Plan: Housing Provision Targets Waste and Minerals
December 2005	Reviewing the London Plan: Statement of Intent from the Mayor
September 2006	Draft Further Alterations to the London Plan
December 2006	Early Alterations to the London Plan on Housing provision targets, waste and minerals
February 2008	The London Plan: Consolidated with Alterations since 2004
July 2008	Planning for a better London
April 2009	A new plan for London: Proposals for the Mayor’s London Plan
October 2009	The London Plan: Consultation draft replacement plan

See also

• Blue Ribbon Network - policy for London's waterways

References

External links

• London Plan - GLA microsite
• Outer London Commission - established by Mayor "to advise how Outer London can play its full part in the city's economic success" (2009)