Edwards, Michael; (2025) Rent, Agglomeration, and the Economy of London. In: Moulaert, Frank and Mehmood, Abid, (eds.) The value of place: Exploring regional development and land use strategies. (pp. 40-49). Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, UK.

Text Edwards_Rent Agglomeration and the Economy of London.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 6 September 2026. Download (199kB)

Abstract

London, like many cities, faces extremely high housing costs, which are even more burdensome for low-income residents due to rising inequality—inequality that housing costs themselves help to fuel. But London is distinctive in that it has some of the largest increases in house prices in Europe, coupled with the most significant income disparities between the city and other regions. It is a city increasingly dominated by land and property interests and this domination is implemented partly through the new Greater London Authority (GLA) metropolitan planning system, now 25 years old. This chapter argues that land and development interests are the dynamo of London’s growth, though their legitimacy tends to be framed through a discourse of agglomeration: London is seen as the key hub for high 'productivity' activity and value generation. The escalating social, health, and environmental costs of this form of growth and its continuation in the future highlight the need for more critical analysis of the agglomeration story and its production of inequality between Londoners and between regions.

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