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London Blitz Rebuilding Plan

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London Blitz Rebuilding Plan

It is 1945. London has been heavily damaged by bombing, and families need homes, services and safe ways to travel. Use the historical briefing and your own judgement to create and explain a rebuilding plan. There is no single perfect plan: support your choices with evidence and consider who might disagree.

German bombing of London during the Blitz (September 1940 to May 1941) destroyed or damaged homes, workplaces, transport links and public buildings. The war continued until 1945, and rebuilding had to compete for scarce labour and materials. Many people needed homes urgently. Temporary prefabricated homes could be put up quickly, while permanent housing would take longer. The County of London Plan, published in 1943 by planners including Patrick Abercrombie and John Forshaw, proposed reorganising the city, improving transport and creating more open space. It also suggested moving some people and industry away from crowded inner London to new towns beyond the city. These ideas involved difficult choices: who should move, what should be rebuilt, and how could Londoners be housed fairly?

Read the evidence

Use the briefing to answer Questions 1–4.

1.Which statement best explains why rebuilding London in 1945 was difficult?

There was little damage, but planners wanted to change the city's name.
Homes were urgently needed, while labour and building materials were scarce.
London had no transport before the war.
The County of London Plan required every resident to move abroad.

2.True or false? The County of London Plan was published before the war ended.

TrueFalse

3.Give one reason a temporary prefabricated home might have helped a family, and one possible drawback.

4.Name one idea in the County of London Plan besides building homes.

Make a rebuilding plan

Plan for residents who need homes and everyday services. Your design should show how people can move around and where they can find open space.

5.Choose the priority that should come first in your plan.

Provide safe homes for people without shelter.
Build impressive offices before homes.
Remove all parks to make more roads.
Rebuild only buildings that look exactly as they did before.

6.Design a small London neighbourhood. Draw homes, at least one useful service (such as a shop, school or clinic), a route for travel, and some open space. Label each feature. Your plan may use both temporary and permanent homes.

Use the space to draw and label your design for Question 6.

7.Explain one choice you made in your plan. How does it respond to a need or challenge facing Londoners in 1945?

8.A planner proposes moving some families to a new town outside London so that inner London is less crowded. Give one possible benefit and one concern a family might have.

9.Imagine a family wants a home rebuilt on its old street, but a planner wants to move them to make room for a new road. What might each side say? Write one reason for each viewpoint.

10.Which evidence from the briefing most strongly supports including temporary homes in your plan? Explain how it supports your decision.