Why is london so sprawling compared to other european cities? (beautiful, famous)

[Space_League]

London is a beautiful and charming city. It is one of the greatest, if not the greatest city in the world. However London feels very decentralized to me. A lot of the housing right up to the core is very low rise 2 and 3 story buildings. My understanding is that the square mile "city of london" is supposed to be the focal point of the city, but it really has several key nodes.

Take this street in Wapping for example:

https://goo.gl/maps/SPuPa69SJy82

this is really close to europe's biggest CBD's yet the buildings look like something you would find in suburban Queens.

i would expect the dense blocks of medium rise buildings you find in downtown barcelona, paris, etc something more like this

https://goo.gl/maps/AxG7rC5QoPz

[Brave New World]

The City of London is the financial district, the central shopping and entertaiment district is called the West End. London has many beautiful and interesting suburbs but is very centralised in terms of the heart of the city which where most tourists visit, and where many of the theatres, entertainment, upmarket shops are, as well as being home to Parliament and many other important buildings.

West End of London - Wikipedia

City of London - Wikipedia

Central London - Wikipedia

Greater London - Wikipedia

London commuter belt - Wikipedia

In terms of Wapping it is in the East End of London and not Central London and is part of what was the largest docks in the world before containerisation. The area became home to a number of newspapers during the 1980's and has seen a lot of building and gentrification. The East End was famous for being the poorest part of London, although in recent decades it has seen massive regeneration including planes such as Canary Wharf and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and the area is set for even moe future investment as the Royal Docks and other such areas.

Wapping - Wikipedia

East End of London - Wikipedia

North London - Wikipedia

South London - Wikipedia

West London (sub-region) - Wikipedia

Central London and the City of London are generally the equivalent of Manhattan in NYC, whilst the North, South, East and West London are similar to the outer boroughs of NYC.

[Embla]

Ever been to Berlin?