Reflect and rethink concrete jungle before we reach the point of no return

I could not have visualised that London, one of the greenest, spacious and most pleasant cities could be turned into a concrete jungle, during the past two decades.

England has officially overtaken Netherland as the most densely populated country in Europe and only Japan and Bangladesh, among major nations, exceed our density.

While no one can doubt that we need more affordable housing, it should be properly planned and not put pressure on essential services such as schools, hospitals, GPs, roads and parking to the detriment of the people living in the area for decades.

Planning permission for flats, houses and other residential buildings, such as sheltered accommodations should be linked with improvement in infrastructure, as practised in Germany and Scandinavia, where they expand their cities, but retain the basic structure, open space and overall density, building schools and hospitals in line with the rise in population, thus safeguarding the quality of life residents have enjoyed for a long time.

If this unplanned, thoughtless, urbanisation of outer London continues at its present breakneck speed, London will soon rival Cairo, as one of the most densely-populated cities in the world.

It is time to pause, reflect and rethink before we reach the point of no return and reduce our beautiful city to an urban ghetto.

Bhupendra Gandhi

via email