Creating London's Image

The skyline is intrinsic to London’s image as a city, more specifically, its status as a 21st century world city: how it is viewed, and what it represents on a local and global scale. This ‘image’ and its referent are crucial in attracting the investment of global capital. This chapter examines the London View Management Framework, a component of the Mayor of London’s London Plan. The document outlines the policy framework for managing the impact of proposed urban development within the scopal frame of 27 designated and protected views. These views represent on the one hand, the aesthetics of a past heritage of Empire inscribed into the very fabric of its buildings, and on the other, the aesthetics of a current and future neoliberal world city as expressed through iconic tall corporate buildings. Both ‘images’ are the sites and sights of the London skyline that the Greater London Authority is attempting to coalesce into one within the London View Management Framework policy guide. It is the desire, demand, cause, and effect of a privatised, capitalist, speculative economy that actively shapes the image of the skyline. This predicates how citizens view, understand, negotiate, and relate to the 21st century city conceptually, spatially and societally.

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