From a blanket to a patchwork: The practicalities of reforming the London green belt

Since the New Labour government took office in 1997 it has made a number of calls for the reform of the London green belt, culminating in the recent 'Barker Reviews' that propose to revise the green belt boundaries and make it more flexible. So far little research has examined how the green belt operates under the current planning system to question how practicable these green belt reform proposals are. Drawing on a survey and a series of interviews to show how the green belt reform proposals are viewed at the local level, this research seeks to show the areas in which the current green belt is both flexible and useful as a planning tool to reach consensus in the urban fringe.