Greater London Plan

The Greater London Plan of 1944, often referred to as the Abercrombie Plan, was a plan for the development and improvement of London commissioned by the Ministry of Works in 1942 and drawn up by Patrick Abercrombie.

It was directly related to the provisions outlined in the County of London Plan drawn up the previous year.

It intended to control and halt London’s expansion. To do so, it proposed:

• Establishment of rural environments (the "green belt") around the city in which the building of new infrastructure and housing was severely restricted.
• Creation of new towns outside the Greater London area to accommodate the overspill of population. Such towns are Basildon, Bracknell and Harlow.
• Expansion of existing towns, such as Swindon, Haverhill and Ashford, for the same purpose.