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Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone is the former Mayor of London known for his dedication to environmental and urban planning issues. A member of the Labour Party, he was elected in 2000 and reelected in 2004. On May 1, 2008, he was defeated in his second reelection bid by conservative Boris Johnson.
Livingstone enacted bold transportation policy measures during his tenure. These include an £8 congestion fee for drivers to central London, a proposed £25 fee for high emission vehicles, and the redesign of Trafalgar Square. With a new mayor in town, livable streets activists fear that Livingstone's important unfinished business will never come to fruition.
London’s First Mayor
Ken Livingstone became London’s first mayor shortly after Tony Blair and Parliament established the Greater London Authority (GLA), a representative, city-wide governing body that would look forward to the 21st Century. Modeled after American style city halls, the GLA replaced the Greater London Council, which had been abolished by Margaret Thatcher and left the city without a centralized authority for 14 years.
Ken Livingstone was actually a colorful member of the older Greater London Council; he served as leader from 1981-84 and 1984-86. In constant conflict with Thatcher, he pushed progressive social and transportation policies, like subsidized discounts on London subways and buses [1]. This antagonism led Margaret Thatcher to dissolve the entire city government during his tenure.
Livingstone began his victory speech in 2000 with: “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted 14 years ago".
Bold Vision
Ken Livingstone implemented a number of bold planning and environmental policies during his two terms as mayor. HIs no-nonsense declarations often made headlines. He is therefore idolized by many Americans hoping for an end to the reign of the automobile.
Congestion pricing. To discourage driving and reduce traffic, he imposed an £8 fee to vehicles entering central London between the hours of 7am and 6pm. Revenue from the charge and any resulting nonpayment fines helps to fund public transit. The overall impact of the congestion tax has been difficult to quantify, although Transport for London reported a 16% reduction in congestion between 2002 an 2007 [2]. However, any measure that discourages driving while making other forms of transportation easier is, on balance, a good thing for the future. It is important establish that cars, and their resulting threats to the environment and public health, will be a relic of the late 20th Century. Livingstone’s plan to charge an increased fee of £25 for high-polluting SUV’s is expected to be shelved by the new conservative mayor.
Oyster card. The Oyster is an automated “smart” ticket for the London Underground. Livingstone promoted these to reduce ticket delays at subway stations and to encourage more regular use of public transportation. Livingstone increased fares for single non-oyster subway tickets purchased at stations and provided discounts oyster card carriers (for example, students under 18 with oyster cards ride all buses without charge). In addition to monthly travelcards, a convenient pre-pay system (known as “pay as you go”), similar to that of prepaid phone cards, allows riders to replenish the monetary balance on their cards up to 90 pounds, instead of buying a full season pass. The Oyster card is also available to tourists in London for short term use.
Climate Change Action Plan. The mayor set a goal to reduce London’s carbon dioxide emissions to 60% below 1990 levels by the year 2025 [3]
Parks. Increasing greenspace was a centerpiece to Livingstone’s first successful mayoral campaign [4]. He envisioned green pedestrian pathways across the city and parks that provided wildlife habitat. Continuing to support park space late into his second term, he oversaw the renewal of Potters Fields Park near the Tower Bridge. At the reopening ceremony, he assailed assemblyman Brian Coleman’s proposal to convert Potters Park into a parking lot: “"Turning this green space into a car park, as Brian Coleman proposed, would have been an act of vandalism, and it shows how little the London Assembly's current leadership reflects the real needs or wishes of Londoners. London needs to be greener, not concreted over. I hope that Brian Coleman will now agree that he was wrong and that the new Potters Fields Park is much better than his plan for a multi-storey car park." [5]
Bicycles. Livingstone hoped to turn London into a cycling city. In 2004, 10,000 bike parking places were installed in 400 London school. In 2008, he announced plans for a bike-share program, modeled on the Paris velib, that would place 6000 bikes on automated rental stands around the London. [6]
London 2012,
World Squares for All.
Criticism and Challenges
Bendy Buses. Livingstone phased out the iconic Routemaster double decker buses in London and replaced them with articulated buses – giant two-car buses connected by an accordion device. The new “bendy” buses were heavier, less fuel efficient and prone to engine fires. [7]. They also consumed more road space and tended to block intersections, which was frustrating to cyclists and pedestrians. The switch was initially made because the old double-decker buses were difficult for the elderly and disabled to use and their open rear side posed a possible safety hazard.
"Skyscraper Mania". He left an architectural legacy of high rises in London. Despite their density, these structures are not necessarily considered environmentally sound given the large inputs of fossil fuel energy required to build and maintain them.
The aesthetic imprint of the new high rises is debatable. A June 7, 2008 article in The Telegraph was critical of Livingstone’s skyscrapers, calling them “Shanghai-on-Thames” and warning that they could destroy London’s centuries old urban character. It also pointed out that England’s “cities are not laid out to a grand vision of the kind that has guided Paris, Barcelona or New York; they have emerged organically through lightly regulated private development. They are a mess, but often characterful and vital in ways that more regimented cities are not. The current crop of tall buildings is a product of this culture, but the scale of the change may be unprecedented.” [8] Livingstone’s successor, Borin Johnson, is not a fan of the conspicuous new buildings.
ALSO ON THE LIVABLE STREETS NETWORK
- Streetsblog: London Imposes $50 Guzzler Fee on SUV's and Lux Roadsters
- Streetsblog: Ken Livingstone on Congestion Pricing in New York
- Streetsblog: We Don't Pay To Drive...ANYWHERE
REFERENCES
[2] Impacts Monitoring - Fifth Annual Report (PDF). Transport for London. June 2007.
[3] Action Today to Protect Tomorrow: The Mayor's Climate Change Action Plan. Greater London Authority.
[4] Manifesto for London parks and public open space
[5] Livingstone renews Potter’s Fields Multi-Storey Car Park Row.
[6] Livingstone plan for street-corner cycle hire stands. The Independent (London). February 12, 2008.
[7] London Articulate Bus Controversy. Wikipedia.
[8] How to deal with Ken’s legacy of tall storeys. The London Telegraph. June 7, 2008
PICTURE REFERENCES
[1] Ken Livingstone on Flickr
[2]
