Londoners: History And Regeneration

Londoners believe historic buildings should be a key element to regenerating their local area, according to new research by MORI. For the project -- commissioned by English Heritage -- MORI surveyed 1,500 London residents on their views of both the capital, generally, and their own area.

The research shows the vast majority of Londoners are interested in the historic environment and feel it is worth saving. Most Londoners believe that historic buildings (59%), the Thames (76%), public spaces (73%) and parks (71%) should be given more protection.

When asked what could play an important role in regenerating run-down areas of London, almost nine in 10 (87%) say improving, repairing and re-using run-down historic buildings. When asked what the word 'heritage' means to them, two-thirds (65%) say historic buildings.

Three-quarters (77%) oppose more tall buildings being built in their local area and three in five (60%) oppose more tall buildings across the rest of London.

The condition of streets and pavements is seen as the most serious problem for London's historic environment (75%), and two in five (38%) believe the condition of London's gardens and parks to be a serious problem. Other issues considered 'serious problems' for Londoners are derelict buildings (70%) and the demolition of historic buildings due to neglect (64%).

Two-thirds (64%) believe there is a lack of funds to save the city's historic environment and that local and central government have little interest in the issue.

Technical details

1,500 telephone interviews were completed between 7-12 August 2002, by MTS (MORI Telephone Surveys). Quotas were set on gender, age, working status and telephone number (020-7 and 020-8). Resulting data have been weighted to ensure that these match the correct Greater London profile.