What is the consensus definition of “Central London”?
There’s no consensus answer really, but Zone 1 is probably the most frequently-used informal answer. Planners like myself divide London formally into Central, Inner and Outer. Central London is defined in the London Plan as the Central Activities Zone – see here for a slightly rubbish map: http://www.london.gov.uk/thelond… Officially, the Central Activities Zone is part of Inner London which is defined as certain boroughs (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inn… ), although transport planners treat them exclusively (i.e. Inner London is everything in those boroughs which excludes the CAZ). I think it’s helpful to define Central and Inner London separately as they have different characteristics. Not many people live in central London, but lots of people work there; it feels like a city centre. Conversely, inner London is high-density and “urban” (or Victorian-style high-density suburban), whilst outer London is lower-density suburban (think more 1930s-type housing). A great report was
