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Planning consideration

Central activities zone

Central areas of London with implications for planning designated by the Greater London Authority (GLA)

Design stage
On the platform
Tags

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Github
Join the discussion
Synonyms
No synonyms added
Legislation
No legislation added
Expected number of records
Unknown
Frequency of updates
Ad hoc
Useful links
Technical specification
No specification added

Background information

Each planning consideration we work on passes through the stages of our design process, where we research and answer specific questions to help us collect more information.

Backlog

  • Who asked for 'Central activities zone' data?

    This dataset has been identified as a constraint for PlanX, and acts in the same way as an article 4 direction.

  • What is the driver for the request?

    Specific user requirement

  • Which 2024 focus area does the request support?

    • Modern planning software
    • Faster local plans

Screen

  • What is the 'Central activities zone' consideration?

    Central areas of London with implications for planning designated by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

  • Is there legislation that defines 'Central activities zone'?

    Yes

    • What is the legislation that defines 'Central activities zone'?

      There is NO legislation defining the central activities zone.

      There is supplementary planning guidance (2016) on the CAZ, which states that “the CAZ is characterised by a diverse mix of places and functions and planning for the Zone is distributed across ten boroughs”, with those 10 boroughs being the City of London, City of Westminster, Camden, Hackney, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth. In the original London Plan, this defines the CAZ as “the area in central and east London where planning policy promotes finance, specialist retail, tourist and cultural uses and activities.”

    • What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Central activities zone' gets designated?

      There is no legislation that defines how the CAZ was designated.

    • What is the specific part of the legislation that requires the publication of 'Central activities zone'?

      There is no legislation which requires the publication of this data.

  • Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Central activities zone'?

    Greater London Authority and The Mayor - 1.1.6 - “The Mayor and GLA will continue to monitor development capacity in the London office market through the London Plan Annual Monitoring Report15 and through established or revised monitoring benchmarks in London Office Policy Reviews.”

    Central London local authorities - “It [the CAZ futures action plan] has been developed by six central London local authorities” etc…

  • Which organisations do we think should publish the data?

    • - Greater London Authority

  • Is the Central activities zone a trigger?

    Yes

    • What needs to be done because Central activities zone has acted as the trigger?

      • Retail impact assessment

      Further research is required to pinpoint what the CAZ might trigger.

  • Is the Central activities zone something to consult during plan making?

    Yes

    • Provide information about when Central activities zone is used during plan making

      CAZ Webpage - “SPG can also assist London boroughs when preparing their Local Plans.”

  • Is there any Central activities zone data already available?

    Yes

    • What Central activities zone data is currently available?

      • Item 1

        url
        https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/central_activities_zone
        name
        Central Activities Zone
        fields
        objectid;layerrefer;siterefere;sitename;address;uprn;borough;planningau;firstadded;lastupdate;removeddat;status;hectares;easting;northing;designatio;boroughdes;classifica;notes;source;extrainfo1;extrainfo2;extrainfo3;missing
        licence
        UK Open Government Licence
        coverage
        National
        publisher
        Greater London Authority
        attribution
        “The boundaries are based on Ordnance Survey mapping and the data is published under Ordnance Survey's 'presumption to publish'.Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2019.”
        metadata_url

  • Do we think the data should come from a single source?

    Yes, this data is available from the Greater London Authority as a single source.

  • Will a data standard be required?

    No

Research

  • Do we understand the lifecycle of a Central activities zone?

    No

  • Do we understand how the data is created/produced?

    We do not know how the GLA produced their data, but our expectation would be that they: - consulted with relevant bodies to identify the boundaries of the zone - used OS basemap data to encapsulate the zone

  • Where will or should the data be used?

    The CAZ and it’s SPG should be used to help keep central London local authority’s local plans closely aligned with the strategic goals of the London plan in a modern way.

    • Local Plans

  • Who are the statutory consultees for Central activities zone?

  • Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of Central activities zone? How do we expect them to use Central activities zone?

  • What are the planning needs for this data?

  • Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Central activities zone data?

  • What are some potential uses of Central activities zone data?

  • What's the value of adding Central activities zone data to the platform?

  • From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Central activities zone data available?

    N / A

2 updates

  • Claire Miller (26 September 2024)

    As per some research we did, summarised in this blog on an analysis of local plans and local area requirements, we're confident that this consideration acts as an INPUT to the process of creating a local plan.

  • Kieran Wint (03 September 2024)

    As per the 'Central Activities Zone' dataset published on the London Datastore, the data is updated on an ad hoc basis.

Last updated: 2025-09-11 10:10:20