The City

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The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London. It is often referred to as the City or the Square Mile, as it is just over one square mile (1.12 sq mi/2.90 km2)[1] in area. These terms are also often used as metonymies for the United Kingdom's financial services industry, which has historically been based here.

In the medieval period, the City was the full extent of London. The term London now refers to a much larger conurbation roughly corresponding to Greater London, a local government area which includes 32 London boroughs as well as the City of London, which is not one of the 32 London boroughs. The local authority for the City, the City of London Corporation, is unique in the United Kingdom, and has some unusual responsibilities for a local authority in Britain, such as being the police authority for the City. It also has responsibilities and ownerships beyond the City's boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, a separate (and much older) office to the Mayor of London.

The City is today a major business and financial centre, ranking on a par with New York City as the leading centre of global finance;[2] in the 19th century, the City served as the world's primary business centre.[3] The City has a resident population of approximately 8,000, but around 340,000 people work there, mainly in the financial services sector. The legal profession form a major component of the western side of the City, especially in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas; these are where the Inns of Court are located, of which two — Inner Temple and Middle Temple — fall within the City of London boundary.

1. not strictly comparable with the 1971 figure[clarification needed]

[edit] Economy

Bishopsgate, in the City's financial area

Paternoster Square, home of the London Stock Exchange

The City houses the London Stock Exchange (shares and bonds), Lloyd's of London (insurance) and the Bank of England. There are over 500 banks with offices in the City, with established leads in areas such as Eurobonds, foreign exchange markets, energy futures and global insurance. The Alternative Investment Market has been a growth market over the past decade, allowing London to also expand as an international equity centre for smaller firms.

Since 1991 Canary Wharf a few miles east of the City in Tower Hamlets, has become a second centre for London's financial services industry and now houses banks and other institutions formerly located in the Square Mile. However, fears that the City would be damaged by this development appear to have been unfounded with growth occurring in both locations. Canary Wharf may have been of great service to the Square Mile by providing large floorplate office buildings at a time when this was difficult within the City boundary, and therefore preventing companies such as HSBC from relocating abroad. In 2008, the City of London accounted for 4 percent of UK GDP.

The Bank of England, on Threadneedle Street, is the central bank of the United Kingdom.

• Big Bang (financial markets)
• The Wimbledon Effect
• London's Place in the UK Economy, 2006-07PDF (748 KiB), report by Corporation of London & Oxford Economic Forecasting, November 2006
• The Competitive Position of London as a Global Financial CentrePDF (1.80 MiB), report by Corporation of London & Z/Yen, November 2005

BT Group (British Telecom) had its world headquarters in the BT Centre in the City of London.[8][9]

[edit] Local government

The Guildhall - the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City

Mansion House - the official residence of the Lord Mayor

Former Lord Mayor of London John Stuttard during the Lord Mayor's parade of 2006

The City of London has a unique political status, a legacy of its uninterrupted integrity as a corporate city since the Anglo-Saxon period and its singular relationship with the Crown. Historically its system of government was not unusual, but it was not reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835 and little changed by later reforms.

It is administered by the City of London Corporation, headed by the Lord Mayor of London (not the same as the more recently created position of Mayor of London), which is responsible for a number of functions and owns a number of locations beyond the City's boundaries. The City is a ceremonial county, although it has a Commission, headed by the Lord Mayor, instead of a Lord-Lieutenant.

The City is made up of 25 wards which have recently had their boundaries changed, though the number of wards and their names have not changed. The City does not have any civil parishes and since the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (which allowed for the creation of civil parishes in the London boroughs) the City is the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created.

[edit] The Temple

Inner Temple and Middle Temple (which neighbour each other) are two of the few remaining liberties, an old name for a geographic division. They are independent extra-parochial areas,[10] historically not governed by the City of London Corporation[11] (and are today regarded as local authorities for most purposes[12]) and equally outside the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. They geographically fall within the boundaries and liberties of the City, but can be thought of as independent enclaves. They are both part of the Farringdon Without ward of the City.

[edit] Elections

The City has a unique electoral system. Most of its voters are representatives of businesses and other bodies that occupy premises in the City. Its ancient wards have very unequal numbers of voters.

The principal justification for the non-resident vote is that about 450,000 non-residents constitute the city's day-time population and use most of its services, far outnumbering the City's residents, who are fewer than 10,000. Nevertheless, the system has long been the cause of controversy. The business vote was abolished in all other UK local authority elections in 1969.

A private act of Parliament in 2002[13] reformed the voting system for electing Members to the Corporation of London and received the Royal Assent on 7 November 2002. Under the new system, the number of non-resident voters has doubled from 16,000 to 32,000. Previously disfranchised firms (and other organizations) are entitled to nominate voters, in addition to those already represented, and all such bodies are now required to choose their voters in a representative fashion.

Bodies employing fewer than ten people may appoint one voter; those employing ten to 50 people may appoint one voter for every five employees; those employing more than 50 people may appoint ten voters and one additional voter for each 50 employees beyond the first 50.

The Act also removed other anomalies that had developed within the City's system, which had been unchanged since the 1850s.

[edit] Proposals for further change

The present system is widely seen as undemocratic[citation needed], but adopting a more conventional system would place the 7,800 residents of the City in control of the local planning and other functions of a major financial capital that provides most of its services to hundreds of thousands of non-residents.

Proposals to annex the City to one of the neighbouring London boroughs, possibly the City of Westminster, have not widely been taken seriously. One proposal floated as a possible reform is to allow those who work in the City to each have a direct individual vote, rather than businesses being represented by appointed voters.

In May 2006 the Lord Chancellor stated to Parliament that the government was minded to examine the issue of City elections at a later date, probably after 2009, in order to assess how the new system has bedded down.[14]

[edit] Other functions

Within the City, the Corporation owns and runs both the Smithfield Market and Leadenhall Market. The Corporation owns and is responsible for a number of locations beyond the boundaries of the City. These include various open spaces (parks, forests and commons) in and around greater London, including most of Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath and many public spaces in Northern Ireland through The Honourable The Irish Society. It also owns Old Spitalfields Market and Billingsgate Fish Market, both of which are within the neighbouring London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Corporation also owns and helps fund the Old Bailey the Central Criminal Court for England and Wales, as a gift to the nation, it having begun as the City and Middlesex Sessions.

The City has its own independent police force, the City of London Police - the Corporation is the police authority. The rest of Greater London is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service, based at New Scotland Yard.

The City of London has one hospital, St Bartholomew's Hospital. Founded in 1123 and commonly known as 'Barts', the hospital is at Smithfield, and is undergoing a long-awaited regeneration after many doubts as to it continuing in use during the 1990s.

The City is the third largest UK funding-patron of the arts. It oversees the Barbican Centre and subsidises several important performing arts companies.

The Port of London's health authority is also the responsibility of the Corporation, which includes the handling of imported cargo at London Heathrow airport.[15] The Corporation oversees the running of the Bridge House Trust, which maintains five key bridges in central London, London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge. The City's flag flies over Tower Bridge, although neither footing is in the City.[16]

[edit] Transport

See also: Transport for London.

London Underground roundel at Bank station.

The Millennium Bridge, looking north towards St. Paul's Cathedral and the City.

The City is well served by the London Underground network, as well as Docklands Light Railway and Thameslink services. Additionally, the City has three National Rail termini stations, at Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street and Cannon Street. The high capacity west-east Crossrail railway line, which is scheduled to be completed by 2017, will run underground across the north of the City, with two stations at Farringdon/Barbican and Moorgate/Liverpool Street. The whole of the City of London lies in Travelcard Zone 1.

The national A1, A3, and A4 road routes begin in the City of London. The entirety of the City lies within the London congestion charge zone, with the small exception on the eastern boundary of the parts of the A1210/A1211 routes which form part of the inner ring road.

The following bridges, listed west to east (heading downstream), cross the River Thames from the City of London to the southern bank: Blackfriars Bridge, Blackfriars Railway Bridge, Millennium Bridge (footbridge), Southwark Bridge, Cannon Street Railway Bridge and London Bridge. The famous landmark, the Tower Bridge, is not in the City of London.

One London River Services pier exists on the Thames along the City of London shore, the Blackfriars Millennium Pier, though the Tower Millennium Pier lies adjacent to the City's boundary, near the Tower of London. One of the Port of London's 25 safeguarded wharfs in central London, Walbrook Wharf, is located on the City of London's shore, adjacent to Cannon Street station, and is used by the Corporation of London to transfer waste via the river.

[edit] Education

The Maughan Library, King's College London

The City has only one directly maintained primary school,[17] Sir John Cass's Foundation Primary School at Aldgate[18] (ages 4 to 11). It is a Voluntary-Aided (VA) Church of England school, maintained by the Education Service of the City of London.

City residents may send their children to schools in neighbouring Local Education Authorities, such as Islington, Tower Hamlets, Westminster and Southwark.

The City controls three very well regarded independent schools, City of London School (a boys school) and City of London School for Girls (girls) which are in the City itself, and the City of London Freemen's School (co-educational day and boarding) which is in Ashtead, Surrey. The City of London School for Girls has its own preparatory department for entrance at age seven. It is also the principal sponsor of the City of London Academy which is based in Southwark.

The City is also home to the renowned Cass Business School, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and parts of three of the universities in London: The Maughan Library of King's College London's Strand Campus, and the business school of London Metropolitan University. A third business school in the City is a campus of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business at Ropemaker Place. The College of Law has its London campus in Moorgate.

[edit] Public libraries

Libraries operated by the City of London include Barbican Library, Camomile Street Library, City Business Library, Guildhall Library, and Shoe Lane Library.[19]

[edit] Gardens

Tower 42 rises behind Finsbury Circus.

Aerial view with 30 St Mary Axe and Tower 42 in the background. Also seen are the Willis Building, Aviva Tower, 99 Bishopsgate, Liverpool Street Station and the Stock Exchange Tower. At the bottom is the Broadgate Tower, the latest skyscraper to be built in the City.

The City has no sizeable parks within its boundary, but does have a network of a large number of gardens and small open spaces, many of which are maintained by the Corporation. These range from formal gardens such as the one in Finsbury Circus, containing a bowling green and bandstand, to churchyards such as one belonging to the church of St Olave Hart Street, to water features and artwork found in some of the courtyards and pedestrianised lanes.[20]

Gardens include:

• Barber-Surgeon's Hall Garden - London Wall
• Cleary Garden - Queen Victoria Street
• Finsbury Circus - Blomfield Street or London Wall or Moorgate
• Jubilee Garden - Houndsditch
• Portsoken Street Garden - Portsoken Street or Goodman's Yard
• Postman's Park - Aldersgate or King Edward Street
• Seething Lane Garden - Seething Lane
• St Dunstan-in-the-East - St Dunstan's Hill or Idol Lane
• St Mary Aldermanbury - Aldermanbury
• the churchyard of St Olave Hart Street - Seething Lane
• St Paul's Churchyard - St Paul's Cathedral
• West Smithfield Garden - West Smithfield
• Whittington Gardens - College Street or Upper Thames Street

Additionally there are a number of private gardens and open spaces, found often within courtyards of the larger commercial developments. Two of the largest private gardens are those of the Inner Temple and Middle Temple Inns of Court, in the far southwest of the City.

The Thames and its riverside walks are increasingly being valued as open space for the City and in recent years efforts have been made to increase the ability for pedestrians to access and walk along the river.

[edit] Policing and Security

The City has its own territorial police force, the City of London Police, which is a separate organisation to the Metropolitan Police Service which covers the rest of Greater London. The City Police have three police stations, located at Snow Hill, Wood Street and Bishopsgate, and has 813 police officers, 85 Special Constables and 48 PCSOs. Covering just the City of London, it is the smallest territorial police force in England and Wales, both in terms of geographic area and the number of police officers.

Where the majority of British police forces have silver-coloured badges, those of the City Police are gold. The force also have a unique red and white chequered sleeve and cap bands (red and white being the colours of the City of London), which in most other British police forces are black and white. City police officers wear slightly larger helmets than other forces whilst on foot patrol. These helmets do not feature the Brunswick Star, which is used on most other police helmets in England and Wales.

The City's position as the United Kingdom's financial centre and a critical part of the country's economy, contributing about 2.5% of the UK's gross national product,[21] has resulted in it becoming a target for political violence. The Provisional IRA exploded several bombs in the City in the early 1990s, including the 1993 Bishopsgate bombing.

The area is also spoken of as a possible target for al-Qaeda. For instance, when in May 2004 the BBC's Panorama programme examined the preparedness of Britain's emergency services for a terrorist attack on the scale of September 11, 2001 attacks, they simulated a chemical explosion on Bishopsgate in the east of the City.

The "Ring of Steel" is a particularly notable measure, established in the wake of the IRA bombings, that has been taken against terrorist threats.

[edit] London Fire Brigade

Dowgate fire station

The City has fire risks in many places, including St Paul’s Cathedral, The Old Bailey, Mansion House, Smithfield Market, the Bank of England, the Guildhall, Tower 42 (formerly the NatWest Tower) and 30 St. Mary Axe (The Gherkin). There is one fire station within the City, at Dowgate, with one pumping appliance.[22] The City relies upon stations in the surrounding London boroughs to support it at some incidents. Within the City the first fire engine is in attendance in roughly five minutes on average, the second when required in a little over five and a half minutes.[22] There were 1,814 incidents attended in the City in 2006/2007 - the lowest in Greater London amongst the 32 London boroughs. No one has died in an event arising from a fire in the City in the last four years prior to 2007.[22]

[edit] Tallest buildings

The City of London's core skyline, as seen from the south, in December 2009. The Heron Tower is seen under construction

Tower 42

The tallest buildings in the City are:

Buildings over 150 metres either under construction or proposed:

[edit] References

[edit] External links

London portal

Official websites

• City of London Corporation - the City's local government website
• Visit the City - the City's visitor website
• Museum of London

Geographical information

• City of London Corporation: Ward boundary maps
• MAPCO : Map And Plan Collection Online - High resolution historic maps of London c. 1560-1925

Local information

• City of London pubs
• TheCity.co.uk

London/City of London travel guide from Wikitravel

Coordinates: 51°30′57″N 0°05′32″W / 51.5157°N 0.0921°W / 51.5157; -0.0921

This text was last fetched from this Wikipedia page (where you can edit it) on
9 Feb 2010, 4:02pm under the terms of the GFDL.

Annotations

• N Phil on Mon 10 Feb 2003, 06:49pm. Flag this

  The arrow on the map indicates the rough centre of the area known as the City of London. “The City” does not refer to London as a whole, but a small part of it, what was the historical centre of the city (since Roman times). It is the financial centre of London and its government and independence retains many anachronisms of history. The offical site is here: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/

• N Bored on Tue 11 Feb 2003, 01:16am. Flag this

  The City has the Tower Of London at its eastern extreme, and extends almost as far as the Law Courts at the west, and the Barbican to the north. To the south is the Thames.

  The curve of the roads around the City suggests that the mediaeval street-pattern formed by the city walls still survives, as it does in many other British towns and cities (and sometimes the walls themselves).

  There is still one city gateway surviving to the north, as far as I recall it is also called the Barbican.

  A more inclusive view of the City can be obtained by moving one square west on the Streetmap link above. I would say the centre of the City nowerdays, at least, is where the several roads join together at the Bank Of England.

• N Martin K. Foys on Tue 11 Feb 2003, 01:22am. Flag this

  In Pepys’ time, would they still consider “The City” to be only that area contained within the Romano-Medieval walls? If so, Liverpool Station looks a bit north to be the centre …

• N Glyn on Tue 11 Feb 2003, 10:26am. Flag this

  The Heraldic Symbols of the City of Westminster was and still is the Portcullis; and that of the City of London was and is the Griffin (1/2 eagle, 1/2 lion). If you walk down Fleet Street you will see a statue of a Griffin defending its territory: and the lampposts there bear either a portcullis or a griffin to show where you are.

  Here are some pics of City of London Griffins:

  http://www.myk.mcmail.com/london/the_city/other_views/

• N Phil on Wed 12 Feb 2003, 10:17pm. Flag this

  Bored is probably right - I’ve moved the pointer on the map to point at the junction by Bank.

• N Steve on Wed 3 Dec 2003, 01:50pm. Flag this

  The City is the area enclosed by the old Roman wall. It starts in the East at the Tower of London, which was built by William the Conqueror where the wall joined the Thames, in order to control the independant minded Londoners. From the Tower it goes due North (you can see it just outside Tower Hill Tube and there is a really good bit 100yds North in a hotel courtyard) and runs just West of The Minories. It then sweeps Westwards along London Wall to the Barbican, where you can see another bit, but not up close. It then heads South again to the river, doing a bit of a dog-leg to include St. Paul’s (St. Paul’s is on one of two hills included within the City walls, and there has been religious activity there for a couple of thousand years; the Romans had their main sports arena between St Paul’s and the river). The wall hits the river just East of Balckfriars Bridge.

  There were a number of gates, including Bishops Gate, the Barbican and Crosswall. Bank Tube is more-or-less the geographic centre of the City. From here, if you walk East along Lombard Street, you will be walking along one of the original Roman main streets to the North side of the central Forum. If you stand at the corner of Lombard Street and Gracechurch, you can look South across the forum to the Monument, which commemorates the starting point of the Great Fire of London in 1666.

• N vincent on Mon 12 Jan 2004, 02:19am. Flag this

  View of the City of London from Southwark looking across London Bridge with an angel like figure in the sky.
  http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/city_london_libraries/gh_pepys2.htm
  showing higate and hampstead heath
  

• N Ismail Mazzara on Sun 21 Mar 2004, 09:17pm. Flag this

  The heraldic symbol of the City of London is not the Gryphon but the Heraldic Dragon -as seen at Holborn Bar,the Embankment,and the site of the old Temple Bar on Fleet Street,near the Royal Courts of Justice. The reason I know this is because I’m on the Corporation of London’s City Guides course where they have hammered this distinction into us for months.

• N Michael Robinson on Fri 31 Oct 2008, 04:28am. Flag this

  Wenceslaus Hollar (Czech/British 1607-1677)
  London [the long view]
  Cornelius Dankerts: Amsterdam, 1647
  (also re-printed and re-issued in 1661 by Justus Danckerts).

  Sheet 1 / 7: printed from a single plate on one sheet: plate 1 showing Whitehall to Durham House with a figure of Law and cherubs one wearing a lion skin; plate 7 showing the region east of the Tower with a river god and putti dressed as an American Indian with an ostrich. 1647
  http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=1503152&partid=1&searchText=Hollar+London+1647&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx¤tPage=2

  Sheet 2 showing the area of the Strand from Salisbury House to Baynard’s Castle, with the Globe theatre in the foreground; three cherubs in the sky with books and one holding a caduceus. 1647
  http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=1503144&partid=1&searchText=Hollar+London+1647&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx¤tPage=2

  Sheet 3 showing the area with old St Paul’s in the centre and Winchester House in the foreground; River Thames in between; in the sky a figure of Mercury. 1647
  http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=1503140&partid=1&searchText=Hollar+London+1647&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx¤tPage=2

  Sheet 4 showing the area of the city from Bow Church to St Peter’s, with Southwark in the foreground; in the sky a cartouche flanked by lions with the title “LONDON” and surmounted by the city arms. 1647
  http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=1503178&partid=1&searchText=Hollar+London+1647&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx¤tPage=1

  Sheet 5 showing London Bridge and the east of the city from St Magnus to Barking; in the sky a winged genius blowing a trumpet. 1647
  http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=1503177&partid=1&searchText=Hollar+London+1647&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx¤tPage=1

  Sheet 6 showing the Tower of London and the east end of the city, with St Olaf in the foreground; in the sky three putti with a parrot, jewel chest, crown and chain. 1647
  http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=1503176&partid=1&searchText=Hollar+London+1647&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx¤tPage=1

  
  

References in the diary

1660

Jan: 1
Feb: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22, 28
Mar: 2, 6
May: 2, 4
Jul: 5
Sep: 9
Nov: 2, 5

1661

Jan: 7, 9, 10, 23
Mar: 20
Apr: 12, 22, 23
May: 7
Jul: 26, 30
Sep: 30
Nov: 5

1662

Mar: 8
Jun: 14
Aug: 17, 31
Oct: 19
Nov: 10, 27, 30

1663

Mar: 17, 22
Apr: 3
May: 10, 29
Jun: 6, 22
Aug: 7
Sep: 2
Oct: 13
Dec: 21, 23

1664

Jan: 21
Mar: 2
Jun: 24
Aug: 5, 20, 25
Oct: 2, 26
Nov: 5

1665

Jan: 30
Feb: 24
Mar: 10, 29
Apr: 1, 7, 24
May: 29
Jun: 10, 29
Jul: 25
Aug: 3, 8, 31
Sep: 3, 6, 14
Oct: 15
Nov: 9

1666

Jan: 3, 5, 19, 31
Mar: 1, 14
May: 29
Jun: 6, 10, 18, 19, 21, 30
Jul: 1, 12
Sep: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 15, 26
Oct: 4, 5, 29
Nov: 5, 9, 11, 14, 22, 25, 26
Dec: 1, 6, 8, 12, 13, 24, 31

1667

Jan: 28
Feb: 3