City of London



The City of London is a geographically-small within ,. It is the historic core of from which, along with, the modern  grew. The City's boundaries have remained constant since the, and hence it is now only a tiny part of the larger London metropolis.

The City of London is today a major business and financial centre, ranking on a par with as the leading centre of global. It is often referred to as just the City or as the Square Mile, as it is approximately one square mile (2.6 km²) in area; note that these terms are also often used as for the   industry, which is principally based there. In the period the City was the full extent of London, and distinct from the nearby but then-separate village of, which became the. The term London now refers to a much larger conurbation containing both 'cities'. The City of London is still part of London's, but apart from financial services, most of London's metropolitan functions are centred on the. The City of London has a resident population of under 10,000, whilst the City employs 340,000 professional workers, mainly in the financial Sector, who commute on a daily basis - making the area's transport system extremely busy during certain peak times.

The City itself contains two independent s — and. These form part of the City and, but are not governed by the. The Corporation governs the rest of the City and also owns various open spaces (parks, forests and commons) in and around London, including most of Epping Forest. It also owns Spitalfields Market and Billingsgate Market, although these are within the neighbouring London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Its motto is "Domine dirige nos" which means "Lord, guide us".

Extent
The size of the City was originally constrained by a defensive perimeter wall, known as '’, which was built by the Romans to protect their strategic port city. However, the boundaries of the City of London are no longer the old City Wall as the city expanded its jurisdiction to the so-called City Bars — such as. The City has also expanded slightly to the north. The boundary froze in the medieval period, thus the City did not and does not control the whole of London.

The walls have long since disappeared although several sections remain visible above ground. A section near the was revealed after the devastation of an air-raid on   at the height of the. Other visible sections are at, , and there are two sections near the.

The City of London borders the to the west — the border cutting through, passing to the west of , going east along  and , north up , where it becomes instead the border with the. It continues north to, turns east, continues, and then goes northeast to. As it crosses it becomes the border with the. It continues to, goes north, and turns into some back streets soon after Aldersgate becomes. It ends up on Ropemaker Street which, as it continues east past, becomes South Place. It goes north, becomes the border with the, then east, north, east on backstreets, meeting at the border with the. It continues south into, and takes some backstreets to where it continues south-east then south. It makes a divergence to the west at the end of Middlesex Street to allow the to be in Tower Hamlets, and then reaches the river. The boundaries of the City are marked by black bollards bearing the City's emblem. In some places the financial district extends slightly beyond the political boundaries of the City to the north and east, into the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Islington, and informally these locations are seen as part of the "Square Mile". Since the 1990s the eastern fringe of the City, extending into Hackney and Tower Hamlets, has increasingly been a focus for large office developments due to the relatively easy availability of large sites there compared to within the City itself.

Official boundary map with wards.

The City of London is England's smallest by both population and area covered and is the second smallest  in both population and size, after  in Wales.

, to the south of the City on the other side of the Thames, came within the City's extent between 1550 and 1899 (as the Ward of Bridge Without). Today it forms part of the. The City today controls the full spans of and, but only half of the river underneath them.

History
The area of the City of London has been administered separately since 886, when appointed his son-in-law  as Governor of London. Alfred made sure that there was suitable accommodation for merchants from northwest Europe, which was then extended to traders from the and.

The City developed its own code of law for the mercantile classes, developing such autonomy that Sir regarded the City as a separate Kingdom making its own laws. The City was composed of wards governed by, who chaired the Wardmotes. There was a for the whole of the city held in the shadows of. In the, permitted eight  to be established, compared to six in his capital, , indicating the wealth of the city.

Following the, marched on London, to  and failed to get across London Bridge or to defeat the Londoners. He eventually crossed the River Thames at, pillaging the land as he went. Rather than continuing the war,  and  surrendered at. William rewarded London in granting the citizens a charter in 1075; the City of London was one of the few institutions where the English retained some authority.

However, William insured against attack by building 3 Castles nearby so as to keep the Londoners subdued:



In 1132, recognised full  status for the City, and by 1141 the whole body of the ry was considered to constitute a single community. This was the origin of the.

The City burned nearly to the ground twice, first in 1212 and then again (and more famously) in the in 1666. Both of these fires were referred to as the Great Fire.

The City elected four members to the, which it retained after the and into the 20th century. Today it is included wholly in the constituency, and statute requires that it not be divided between two neighbouring areas.

The City's population fell rapidly in the 19th century and through most of the 20th century as many houses were demolished to make way for modern office blocks. The 1970s saw the construction of many tall buildings including the 600ft, 42-storey which became the first  in the UK.

This trend for purely office development is beginning to reverse as the Corporation is encouraging residential use, although the resident population is not expected to go much above 10,000 people. Some of the extra accommodation is in small pre- commercial buildings, which are not suitable for occupation by the large companies which now provide much of the City's employment. The largest residential section of the City is the.

Since the 1990s, the City has diversified away from near exclusive office use in some other ways as well. For example, several hotels have opened and also the City's first. However, large sections of it remain very quiet at weekends, especially those areas in the eastern section of the City, and it is quite common to find pubs and cafes closed on these days. In the central areas, a number of additional skyscrapers are also being planned as the financial services industry continues to expand. These will include the 63-storey, the 48-storey , the 46-storey and several other major landmarks that will dramatically alter the skyline.

Financial industry


The City of London houses the ( and ), , and the. The began development in the 1980s as an alternative financial centre for London and is now home to the, as well as several important financial institutions such as , ,  and. There are now over 500 with offices in the City and Docklands, with the majority of business in London being conducted on an international basis, with established leads in areas such as,  markets,   and global insurance. The has acted a growth market over the past decade, allowing London to also expand as an international  centre for smaller firms.

Since 1991 a few miles east of the City, in Tower Hamlets, has become a second centre for London's financial services industry and now houses a number of 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. Indeed 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 strategically important companies such as from relocating abroad.


 * , report by & Oxford Economic Forecasting, November 2006
 * , report by & Z/Yen, November 2005
 * , report by & Oxford Economic Forecasting, November 2006
 * , report by & Z/Yen, November 2005

Local government
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.

It is administered by the, headed by the (not the same post as the more recent , who presides over Greater London). The City is a too, although instead of having its own, the City of London has a Commission, headed by the Lord Mayor, exercising this function.

Elections
The City has a unique electoral system, which follows very few of the usual forms and standards of. Most of its voters are representatives of businesses and other bodies which occupy premises in the City. Its ancient wards also have very unequal numbers of voters.

The principal justification put forward for the non-resident vote is that approximately 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 local authority elections in 1969 and was retained only in the City of London.

A private act of Parliament in 2002 reformed the voting system for electing Members to the Corporation of London and received the on. 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 fifty people may appoint one voter for every five employees; those employing more than fifty people may appoint ten voters and one additional voter for each fifty employees beyond the first fifty.

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

Proposals for further change
The present system is widely seen as undemocratic, but adopting a more conventional system would place the 9,200 actual residents of the City of London in control of the local planning and other functions of a major financial capital which provides most of its services to hundreds of thousands of non-residents.

Proposals to annex the City of London to one of the neighbouring s, possibly the, have not widely been taken seriously. However, one proposal floated as a possible further 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 stated to Parliament that the government was minded to examine the issue of City of London elections at a later date, probably after 2009, in order to assess how the new system has bedded down.

Other functions
The City has its own independent police force, the. The rest of Greater London is policed by the, based at.

The City of London houses one hospital -. Founded in 1123 and fondly known as 'Barts', the hospital is situated at, and is about to undergo a much publicised, controversial but long awaited regeneration.

The City is a major patron of the arts. It oversees the and subsidises several important performing arts companies. It also takes an interest in open spaces outside its boundaries: see.

Education
The City of London has only one directly-maintained primary school. The school is called the Sir John Cass's Foundation Primary School (ages 4 to 11). The school is the only state primary school in the City of London and is sited at. It is a voluntary-aided school, maintained by the.

City of London residents may send their children to schools in neighbouring (LEAs).

For secondary schools children enrol in schools in neighbouring LEAs, such as, , and. Children who have permanent residence in the City are eligible for transfer to the, an independent secondary school sponsored by the City of London that is located in Southwark.

The City of London controls three other. Two are located in the City,  (all male) and  (all female); the third,  (co-educational), is located in,. The City of London School for Girls has its own preparatory department for entrance at age seven.

The City is also home to, which serves and to the.

Recreation
A number of gardens are maintained by the City of London. These range through formal gardens such as the one found in (it contains a bowling lawn and bandstand) to churchyards such as one belonging to the church of  which may be entered from Seething Lane. .

Gardens etc. include
 * - London Wall
 * - or London Wall or
 * - or
 * - or
 * - or
 * the churchyard of -
 * - College Street or
 * - or
 * the churchyard of -
 * - College Street or
 * - College Street or
 * - College Street or
 * - College Street or

Security
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, has resulted in it becoming a target for political violence. The exploded several s in the City in the early 1990s.

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

See also for measures that have been taken against these threats.