On London Extra: Affairs of the heart
How can central London be governed better? Plus a vintage Mayfair travelogue, bracing for Burnham and more
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The board of the Oxford Street Development Corporation met yesterday. Observing its deliberations, I wondered if the mayoral intervention that led to its existence had been too small.
Imagine if the OSDC area did not encompass only Oxford Street and its immediate surroundings but stretched all the way from Liverpool Street station to its east to Paddington station to its west. Imagine if it extended further north and south as well.
What if it brought the whole heart of the area we know as Central London under its control and took on further powers, so that the evolution and stewardship and of this economically and culturally vital piece of London and the UK was primarily the responsibility of a single governance body responsible to the Mayor, whoever that Mayor might be?



