CONCLUSION

Three years after the war, the 1948 Summer Olympics were held at the original Wembley Stadium, at a time when the city had barely recovered from the war. London's rebuilding was slow to begin. However, in 1951 the Festival of Britain was held, which marked an increasing mood of optimism and forward looking.

In the immediate postwar years housing was a major issue in London, due to the large amount of housing which had been destroyed in the war. The authorities decided upon high-rise blocks of flats as the answer to housing shortages. During the 1950s and 1960s the skyline of London altered dramatically as tower blocks were erected, although these later proved unpopular. In a bid to reduce the number of people living in overcrowded housing, a policy was introduced of encouraging people to move into newly built new towns surrounding London.

Through the 19th and in the early half of the 20th century, Londoners used coal for heating their homes, which produced large amounts of smoke. In combination with climatic conditions this often caused a characteristic smog, and London became known for its typical "London Fog", also known as "Pea Soupers". London was sometimes referred to as "The Smoke" because of this. In 1952 this culminated in the disastrous Great Smog of 1952which lasted for five days and killed over 4,000 people. In response to this, the Clean Air Act 1956 was passed, mandating the creating of "smokeless zones" where the use of "smokeless" fuels was required (this was at a time when most households still used open fires); the Act was effective.

Starting in the mid-1960s, and partly as a result of the success of such UK musicians as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture which made Carnaby Street a household name of youth fashion around the world. London's role as a trendsetter for youth fashion was revived strongly in the 1980s during the New Wave and Punk eras. In the mid-1990s this was revived to some extent with the emergence of the Britpop era.

From the 1950s onwards London became home to a large number of immigrants, largely from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India,Bangladesh, Pakistan, which dramatically changed the face of London, turning it into one of the most diverse cities in Europe. However, the integration of the new immigrants was not always easy. Racial tensions emerged in events such as the Brixton Riots in the early 1980s.

Around the start of the 21st century, London hosted the much derided Millennium Dome at Greenwich, to mark the new century. Other Millennium projects were more successful. One was the largest observation wheel in the world, the "Millennium Wheel", or the London Eye, which was erected as a temporary structure, but soon became a fixture, and draws four million visitors a year. The National Lottery also released a flood of funds for major enhancements to existing attractions, for example the roofing of the Great Court at the British Museum.

The London Plan, published by the Mayor of London in 2004, estimated that the population would reach 8.1 million by 2016, and continue to rise thereafter. This was reflected in a move towards denser, more urban styles of building, including a greatly increased number of tall buildings, and proposals for major enhancements to the public transport network. However, funding for projects such as Crossrail remained a struggle.On 6 July 2005 London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. However, celebrations were cut short the following day when, on 7 July 2005, London was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. More than 50 were killed and 750 injured in three bombings on London Underground and another aboard a double decker bus near Russell Square in King's Cross.In the public there was ambivalence leading-up to the Olympics.

REFERENCE

1. Pevsner, N. London I: The Cities of London and Westminster / N. Pevsner. – L.: 2006.

2. Lien, B.L. Taking the Bread Out of Our Mouths / B.L. Lien. – L.: 2000.

3. Besant, W. London / W. Besant. – L.: 2002.

4. Thornbury, G.V. Old and new London : a narrative of its history, its people, and its places / G.V. Thornbury. – L.: 2003.

5. Porter, R. History of London / R. Porter. – L.: 2007.

6. Inwood, S. A History of London / S. Inwood. – L.: 2010.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 929