London's population set to overtake its pre-war peak

[editor]

This is a fascinating piece: I never knew London's population had gone down so much:

On 6 January, or thereabouts, London will hit an extraordinary milestone. The population has finally caught up with its 1939 peak population: from now on, it will be an all-time high. Has any other city in history bounced back from losing two and a quarter million people?

In 1939 London was the largest city in a global trading empire of half a billion people. Today it is again the largest city and main commercial centre in a trading block of half a billion people. But while the British empire in 1939 still included a quarter of the world’s population, the EU now has only 7 per cent.

London dominates the UK population less than it did, too. In 1939, 18 per cent of the UK’s population lived in London, compared to only 13 per cent today.

In 1939 London was overwhelmingly white. Only 2.7 per cent of us had been born abroad, and nearly half of those came from Ireland (even then, mind you, the next biggest nationality was Polish).

Today, around 37 per cent of Londoners were born abroad. The city’s rebirth quite simply would never have happened without immigration, although the biggest source of growth today is births.

We’re healthier too – in 1939 there was no NHS, London still choked on smog, and even before war broke out the average life expectancy was only 62 years. It’s no wonder that pensions seemed more affordable then.

Today Londoners can expect to live to 82, and while London remains a very young city overall, the population pyramid below shows we now have fewer teenagers and more pensioners. We also have more adult men – in 1939 there was still a “missing generation” from the First World War.

More: http://www.citymetric.com/skylines/...n-will-finally-overtake-its-previous-peak-606

 

[Favelado]

London and New York's populations are neck-and-neck right now. Is there some kind of projection for when London overtakes the upstart for the first time in decades?

 

[JTG]

London and New York's populations are neck-and-neck right now. Is there some kind of projection for when London overtakes the upstart for the first time in decades?

Two weeks next Tuesday. But only if Mrs Winfield from Catford drops her sprog when expected

 

[Crispy]

I wonder where it will end?

 

[DotCommunist]

I wonder where it will end?

you must know of kowloon walled city? the on;y way is up. They won't have to economically cleanse anymore they will just consign toilers to the sunless underhive

 

[toggle]

I wonder where it will end?

hopefully before overcrowding levels match 1939

 

[quimcunx]

How come so many Polish in 1939?

 

[Favelado]

How come so many Polish in 1939?

Doorsteps needed to be perfect so neighbours wouldn't look down on you.

 

[quimcunx]

Doorsteps needed to be perfect so neighbours wouldn't look down on you.

I even managed a capital letter, a rare occurance for me.

 

[DotCommunist]

How come so many Polish in 1939?

Because nazis

 

[quimcunx]

Because nazis

Ah yes.

 

[DotCommunist]

Ah yes.

and most never got to leave because by the end of hostilities it was under some no-joking stalinist soviet regime.

My nan used to take me to the Polish Club where elderly people reacted to the presence of a child with a mixture of fascination, disgust, and desire to tell war stories

 

[Kaka Tim]

why did the population go down so much? commuter towns?

 

[kittyP]

why did the population go down so much? commuter towns?

The war

 

[toggle]

How come so many Polish in 1939?

molotov-ribbentrop pact

 

[Favelado]

I think London's population was as low as 6.1 million in 1981. It's at about 8.35 now and gaining 100,000 a year.

 

[quimcunx]

molotov-ribbentrop pact

Now wash your mouth out, you filthy mare.

 

[toggle]

The war

and postwar housing was less dense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Buildings

places like this weren't replaced like with like (single rooms for a family), but with houses/flats.

and think of the courts in 'cathy come home' - even more crowded.

 

[Kaka Tim]

Population was declining from 1939 till the early 90s. So not the war.

 

[JTG]

Because London was seen as the sort of shithole people would want to move out of

 

[DotCommunist]

Because London was seen as the sort of shithole people would want to move out of

parts of. the whole 'south of the river! lawks no' meme still exists to this day despite most of it being bare expensive in rent

 

[JTG]

parts of. the whole 'south of the river! lawks no' meme still exists to this day despite most of it being bare expensive in rent

I don't think that's necessarily associated. That's just intra city snobbery, happens here as well

 

[SpineyNorman]

Because London was seen as the sort of shithole people would want to move out of

What do you mean 'was'?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

why did the population go down so much? commuter towns?

combination of wartime bomb damage, post war 'dispersal' policy - new towns eg basildon, overspill estates eg shearwater (woking) - employers moving out of london for more space.

and commuter types choosing to move further out, particularly as rail services modernised

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

parts of. the whole 'south of the river! lawks no' meme still exists to this day despite most of it being bare expensive in rent

Sir I salute your knowledge of London and its mores.

 

[_angel_]

Population was declining from 1939 till the early 90s. So not the war.

Why'd it drop so much in the nineties and was so high in thirties? ? (Sorry if it's a dumb question).

 

[SaskiaJayne]

I recall posters in London tube trains in the 70s, a coloured drawing of a happy smiling family in the countyside with caption 'Get more out of life living & working outside London'.

 

[Pickman's model]

This is a fascinating piece: I never knew London's population had gone down so much:




More: http://www.citymetric.com/skylines/...n-will-finally-overtake-its-previous-peak-606

point probably already made but london as is markedly largerthan london as was in 1939

 

[Pickman's model]

Population was declining from 1939 till the early 90s. So not the war.

which bit of that is the administrative county of london?

 

[tony heath]

The population of London may have risen because there are more places to live, all those warehouses, garages, attics and basements used to be home to rats, now they house 2m people.