Greater London National Park

A website calling for a Greater London National Park launched today (1 April) although it’s keen to point out that it’s not actually an April Fool, but a (half-)serious idea – although it is just a Notional Park for now. Why should the UK’s national parks be exclusively in rural areas? The website points out the large number of parks in London (over 2000) and also that it is a city mainly of houses and gardens than high-rise flats, as such the “greenspace” of private gardens forms a not insubstantial portion of the capital’s land use. Taking water, parks and gardens together, the natural environment accounts for more than half the total land area in London. To drive the point home, there is this map, we like how it uses a rather beguiling series of shades of green to illustrate just how rural the metropolis actually is.

As a bonus, the website also contains a map by Ben Hennig of WorldMapper (and soon LondonMapper) fame, showing the distribution of hedgehogs in London, with the boroughs distorted to show their hedgehog population rather than their geographical area.

Thanks to Daniel Raven-Ellison for sending us the details!