About the London Society

The London Society was founded in 1912 as a membership organisation to encourage public interest and participation in the planning of London. The Society's foundation was thus contemporary with the birth of town planning as a formal profession. The first chairman was the eminent architect Sir Aston Webb, and early committee members included architects Beresford Pite, Raffles Davison, Edwin Lutyens and Reginald Blomfield, the town planner Raymond Unwin, the artist Frank Brangwyn, and the publisher J. M. Dent. Its founders envisioned a combination of a civic amenity society, a preservation lobby, and an urban think-tank. For example, the Society took an early interest, maintained to this day, in transport matters.

As the planning regime developed, the Society took on its current role as an authoritative commentator on significant planning applications in central London.

About the London Society Journal

The Society's Journal has been published since 1913, currently twice a year, in the late spring and the autumn.

More about the Journal and our plans.

Contents page, with a sample of articles, from the current issue, number 462 (Winter 2011/ Spring 2012).

Projection of image symbolising saving and recycling water onto frontage of Architectural Association, Bedford Square, W.C.1: projections designed by AA Diploma Unit 18 to accompany presentation by Jeremy Rifkin "The Third Industrial Revolution" 7 November 2011 (photograph: William Arthurs).