Protected view

Updated on Nov 02, 2023

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A protected view or protected vista is the legal requirement within urban planning to preserve the view of a specific place or historic building from another location. The effect of a protected view is to limit the height of new buildings within or adjacent to the sightline between the two places so as to preserve the ability to see the landmark as a focus of the view. The protection may also cover the area behind the place or building concerned.

For example, in London views of St Paul's Cathedral are protected from various prominent locations around the city. In Edinburgh, a 2005 skyline study compiled a list of almost 170 key views which will now be protected in the planning process.

Protected views are not unique to the UK, also existing in places such as San Francisco which has some of the strictest limits in the world; Portland, Oregon where the size of downtown blocks is kept low to maintain the views of Mount Hood from the West Hills; and the city of Vancouver which has protected "view cones".

Protected Vistas in London

The thirteen vistas protected by the London View Management Framework are as follows:

from Alexandra Palace to St Paul’s Cathedral

from the summit of Parliament Hill to St Paul’s Cathedral

from the summit of Parliament Hill to the Palace of Westminster

from Parliament Hill, at the prominent oak tree east of the summit, to Palace of Westminster

from the viewing gazebo at Kenwood House to St Paul’s Cathedral

from the summit of Primrose Hill to St Paul’s Cathedral

from the summit of Primrose Hill to the Palace of Westminster

from Greenwich Park, north east of the General Wolfe statue, to St Paul’s Cathedral

from Blackheath Point, near the orientation board, to St Paul’s Cathedral

from Westminster Pier to St Paul’s Cathedral

from King Henry VIII’s Mound in Richmond Park to St Paul’s Cathedral

a distance of over 10 miles (16 km) and created in 1710, this view frames the cathedral through a special gap in holly hedging, down a specially maintained clear avenue in Sidmouth Wood and then all the way across London. This protected view has limited development around Liverpool Street Station as a tall structure there would form an unacceptable backdrop to the view of St Paul's.

from the centre of the bridge over the Serpentine to the Palace of Westminster

from the The Queen’s Walk at City Hall to the White Tower

The views of St Paul's Cathedral from Waterloo Bridge and Hungerford Bridge are not specifically mentioned although these views are protected in practice by the views from Richmond Park and from Westminster Pier respectively as these bridges are on the path of the protected vistas.

References

Protected view Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA