Urban influences on rural areas within the London metropolitan region: case studies of three Hertfordshire parishes

Pahl, Raymond Edward (1963) Urban influences on rural areas within the London metropolitan region: case studies of three Hertfordshire parishes. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Most previous studies have been in isolated agricultural areas and little work has been done integrating the urban orientated studies of metropolitan regions with detailed studies of 'rural' communities within such regions. Hertfordshire has for long been influenced by London in its land values, ownership of land, system of farming and communications' network. Before 1945, apart from the Garden Cities, the main growth of industry and population was in the south-west of the county, between London and Midlands. Post-war 'overspill' of population and industry beyond the Green Belt led to rapid growth along the central axis, leaving only north-east of the county isolated and mainly agricultural. New people have moved selectively into rural areas, despite rising property values. To judge the effects of these changes, comprehensive household surveys of three parishes, differing in their social, geographic and economic characteristics, were made with particular reference to all links with "the outside world". Urban influences were seen to vary both between and within villages according to the socio-economic characteristics of the population. Newcomers are mainly middle class commuters because of social and economic factors. The differences between the working class villagers and the middle class overshadow those between commuters and non-commuters within the working class. This physical links with the outside world are less important than socio-economic factors in promoting the change from a hierarchical to a class-polarised community. Such changing communities are characteristic of the outer rings of the metropolitan region, and their distribution is limited by the County planning policy, itself a product of the location of the area in relation to London. Within this limiting framework social, economic and geographic factors operate in the choice of specific villages by middle class commuters. This thesis is a contribution to the social geography of the rural-urban fringe.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 1963 Raymond Edward Pahl
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Supervisor:	Westergaard, John and Jones, Emrys
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4815

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