Britain’s most successful small cities cannot turn into big metropolises. That is a problem for the country’s productivity
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskBut in one important way Oxford is no better than mediocre. Over the past five years the city has added just 1,440 net homes, swelling its housing stock by 0.5% a year. That is slower growth than the English average. The Office for National Statistics will soon update its population estimates to account for the 2021 census. For now, though, it calculates that Oxford’s population of about 150,000 is not growing at all.
The main reason successful British cities do not grow faster is the planning system, which allows local governments to block development. Oxford is surrounded by a 34,500-hectare “green belt”, a ring of land in which building is very difficult. Many green belts are much bigger: overall, 12% of England is so designated.
Another effect of Britain’s stringent planning rules is that new housing is pushed into places with weaker restrictions. South of Oxford’s green belt and west of London’s one is Didcot, a small town that is growing at almost Texan speed. Two- and three-storey houses have sprouted along newly built streets with generic names like Greenwood Way and Orchid Mews. Thousands more are planned.
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