Abercrombie’s green-wedge vision for London: the County of London Plan 1943 and the Greater London Plan 1944

Abstract

This paper analyses the role that the green wedges idea played in the main official reconstruction plans for London, the County of London Plan 1943 and the Greater London Plan 1944.1 Green wedges were theorised in the first decade of the twentieth century and discussed in multi-faceted ways up to the end of the Second World War. Despite having been prominent in many plans for London, they have been largely overlooked in planning history. This paper argues that green wedges were instrumental in these plans in the formulation of a more modern, sociable, healthier and greener peacetime London.