LONDON’S OVERGROWTH

Evening Star, Issue 20252, 13 August 1929, Page 11

LONDON’S OVERGROWTH

“ THE GREAT WEN " Plato laid down that tho ideal city would Imv. a population of 3,040 citizens; William Cob holt was never t d of cordemni"'!, the size of London o Groat Wer as he called it -in the <. s when its population was little ir .■<> than two milhons. It is hard to m- | agine what either' would say if they ‘could see the statistics recently issued by the Lond i. County Council. 1 iho population of Greater London is now estimated at 7,840,000, considerably more, than tho whole of the Commonwealth, and only about 30,000 short of the population of Belgium. Scotland with a population of 4,803,000, has not many more inhabitants than Inner London, with its four and a-half millions The tremendous congestion in many parts of the capital is" exemplified, by Paddington, which has a po'ulation of 142.000 with'-, an area of 2.12 square miles. Sucli over-dev° pmCnt brings •• th it its own retribution; Traff >, take but ore of the problems ' £ out ol it, is becomi-’g increasi r ast vear_ ove l- 'I people, we-e kills' 1 or injured a Cordon street®.■ Tr-’fl’-; blocks ’ ■» became •• bad Chat in some p; f the city it is onicker to walk ai tarco up to a mile and more th; - o use a car And so great is the rend congestion on all roads leadh at of.. London that it is rapidly hoe' ug ■impossible to motor out into the run- , try fo- tire day. Perhaps Plato and . Cobbett will yet have the last laugh, ....