About Croydon

Croydon is an outer London borough, situated on the southern perimeter of greater London. It extends from Upper Norwood in the north to Coulsdon in the south and covers 9,065 hectares, about a quarter of which is designated green belt land. The north of the borough is densely populated, and more characteristic of inner than outer London. In the east, New Addington was a mini “new town” and the majority of property there is council owned. The south of the borough has relatively little council housing.

Croydon can be regarded as a gateway to the south coast and central London, with excellent public transport links to London and the south east. An Inter-City rail service provides a direct link with the Midlands, the north west, the north and Gatwick airport is only 20 minutes by train. Croydon’s 28km local tram network, opened in spring 2000 and has won acclaim. It links Croydon with Wimbledon, Beckenham, Elmers End, New Addington and major bus and overland train links. The borough is a focal link on the main road routes between central London and the south coast, with access to the M23 and M25 motorways.

Croydon is widely regarded as a prosperous area with most residents enjoying a good quality of life. However, there are parts of the borough that are classed as ‘deprived’ and which are characterised by a combination of high numbers of unskilled workers and one parent families, high unemployment, poorer housing, and high proportions of elderly residents or children under five. The wards of Fieldway, Whitehorse Manor and Broad Green have been identified as the most deprived in the borough and amongst the most deprived areas in London.

Economy

Croydon is the sixth largest commercial office centre in England outside central London and is a strategic hub of business and commerce within greater London and the south east. Outside London’s West End, Croydon, with over 250,000 square metres of retail space, is one of the largest shopping centres in the south east. A major development of out of town stores, linked to the town centre by ‘Tramlink’, has also grown up on Purley Way. More than 130,000 people come to work in the town each day and 600,000 shoppers visit the Whitgift Centre each week, helping to generate an estimated annual turnover of more than £500 million.

People

Croydon has an estimated population of 339,875, making it the largest of all 33 London boroughs. The population has grown by almost 20,000 since 1991 mainly due to there being more births than deaths and because more people have moved into the borough than moved out. It is estimated that nearly 30% of Croydon’s population is from black and ethnic minority communities. These figures mask large differences within the borough, ranging from a majority black and ethnic community (51%) in west Thornton to 7% in Sanderstead.