Doug Specht, Director of Teaching, Learning and Quality Assurance, co-wrote an article for Geography Directions about the London Underground Northern Line extension and the challenges it created for mapmakers and social equality.
In the article, Doug Specht and Dr Alexander Kent from Canterbury Christ Church University wrote about the extension of the London Underground network in September 2021 which grew by 1.8 miles. The line cost around £270m, which Specht and Dr Kent say has “brought the developers considerable influence on decisions that have since had an impact on mapmaking and social equality alike.”
They wrote: “For the designers of the iconic Tube map, the decision to allow the new stations to be part of Zone 1 caused an uproar, risking the integrity of one of the most successful cartographic designs ever produced…One of the reasons for its enduring success is the versatility of the map’s design – it has accommodated the many changes associated with the growth of London’s Underground network for 90 years – and is still used by millions today.”
Discussing how social inequality can be manufactured and reinforced through mapping, they added: “The Northern Line extension was funded by a £1bn loan to the Greater London Authority, which will be paid back by the developers of the surrounding area and topped up by money collected from business rates.
“So, if the developers are paying a large share of the costs for the line, why shouldn’t they be allowed to dictate the zoning? This would seem fair, except that the developers balked at their required contribution of £266.4 million to the Northern Line Extension – a project that would significantly increase the value of their development – and lobbied Wandsworth London Borough Council to allow them to reduce the provision of social housing from the usual share of 33% to just 9%.”
Read the full article on the Geography Directions website.
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