The twentieth-century history of London is not a happy one. While the city was bombed during the First World War, it suffered relatively little. London was still rapidly expanding out into the suburbs, but it was hit hard by the worldwide depression of the 1930s, and then again by World War II. Of all the British cities, London took the heaviest bombing in the Blitz. Children were evacuated to the countryside, and the people who were left in the city had to take shelter in the tube stations almost every day. East London was worst hit, starting a decline that has only just started to turn around today. After the war, a number of things happened to damage London. The first was the establishment of the Green Belt and New Towns to halt London's rapid expansion, with businesses and residents being given financial incentives to move far out into the suburbs. Secondly, air and road transport took off in a big way after the war, and so there seemed to be little point in rebuilding London's ports - they were simply left to fall into disuse and disrepair, and However, at the same time, London's pollution problem was finally solved by the Clean Air Act of 1956. This law banned smoky coal from use, ending the smog that had sat over London constantly for years. London gradually started to shake its reputation for being dirty and polluted, and young people started moving there again. Today, London is a big city, governed by its own Mayor since 2000. The Green Belt has successfully contained its outward growth, but its population is growing every day. Modern London has two main industries: finance, which has been important in London for centuries, and tourism. Tourists come from all over the world to see London's amazing history, and the city itself is considered one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world. |
