The London greenbelt was set up in 1935 with the aim to restrict urban growth and provide recreation as a primary use of the land. The concept of the greenbelt derives from Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City ideals and has therefore always been somewhat utopian, encouraging social and environmental idealism. The greenbelt is also the location for the post-war New Towns such as Basildon and Harlow which were directly derived from the Garden City ideal of a utopian community marrying town and countryside, providing a green and spacious environment in which to live and work.

The Greenbelt Planning Policy Guidance document (PPG2) states that the use of land in greenbelts has a positive role to play in:

• providing opportunities for access to the open countryside for the urban population
• providing opportunities for outdoor sport and outdoor recreation near urban areas
• retaining attractive landscapes, and enhancing landscapes near to where people live
• improving damaged and derelict land around towns
• securing nature conservation interests
• retaining land in agricultural, forestry and related uses.