South London

South London is the southern part of London, England. The area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes.

Boundary Commission

North and South London as defined by the Boundary Commission

At its widest extent, South London is the part of Greater London that is south of the River Thames. This includes the historic central areas of Southwark and Bankside and maritime Greenwich. The area has little of the London Underground network, but has a much more extensive suburban railway system than North London^[1] and is the location of all of London's tram services. This area is made up of the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and Wandsworth. This definition is used by the Boundary Commission for England.^[2] The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames includes sections on both sides of the River Thames and the boundary commission class the entire district as part of South London.^[2] In 1965 Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Wandsworth were designated Inner London boroughs and Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton were designated Outer London boroughs.^[3]

Sub-region

The current sub regions

The 2004-2008 sub regions

For the purposes of the London Plan, there was a South London sub-region in operation from 2004 to 2008 consisting of Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton.^[4] In 2001 this area had a population of 1,329,000.^[5] This definition is used by organisations such as Connexions.^[6] In 2008 it was replaced with a South East sub-region consisting of Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley and a South West sub-region consisting of Croydon, Lambeth, Merton, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond and Wandsworth.^[7]

Colloquial use

Aside from the official definitions, South London refers to areas south of Central London and the River Thames. This area overlaps the informal Central, South East and South West London areas. Some of these districts are included in the South Eastern and South Western postcode areas. This area is included in all or part of the following boroughs, listed with postcode areas, direction from Charing Cross (the nominal centre of London), sub-region they are part of for planning purposes, and London Assembly constituencies:

London borough		Postcode areas	Charing Cross	Sub-region	London Assembly[8]
	Bexley	DA, SE	east south-east	South East	Bexley and Bromley
	Bromley	BR, SE	south east	South East	Bexley and Bromley
	Croydon	CR, SE, SW	south	South West	Croydon and Sutton
	Greenwich	SE, DA, BR	east south-east	South East	Greenwich and Lewisham
	Kingston	KT, SW	south west	South West	South West
	Lambeth	SE, SW	south	South West	Lambeth and Southwark
	Lewisham	SE, BR	south east	South East	Greenwich and Lewisham
	Merton	CR, KT,SM, SW	south west	South West	Merton and Wandsworth
	Richmond	SW, TW	south west	South West	South West
	Southwark	SE	south	South East	Lambeth and Southwark
	Sutton	SM	south west	South West	Croydon and Sutton
	Wandsworth	SW	south west	South West	Merton and Wandsworth

The South West London Assembly constituency additionally includes the London Borough of Slough. Crime in London is also on the rise

Gallery

The Globe Theatre, Southwark	Eel & Pie House, Peckham	Peckham library	Crystal Palace transmitter, Sydenham Hill
Aylesbury Estate, Walworth	Southwark Cathedral	Brixton	Clapham Common tube
The Oval, Kennington	MI6 HQ, Vauxhall	Greenwich Naval College	Hampton Court Palace

Associated organisations

• South London Gallery
• South London Line
• South London Botanical Institute
• South London Press
• South London Radio
• South London Theatre

References

Coordinates: 51°26′N 0°5′W / 51.433°N 0.083°W / 51.433; -0.083